States and public authorities have a primary obligation to respect human rights. However, it is undisputed that private individuals, in particular companies, can also have a significant impact on the human rights of employees, consumers and the communities in which they operate. In 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council therefore unanimously endorsed the 31 “UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights”. These are guidelines for states and companies to prevent and combat human rights violations in the context of their respective business activities. Responsible corporate behaviour, sustainable industrial concepts and the question of the environmental and human rights relevance of economic activities have been at the centre of public attention more than ever before. The relevant social, ecological and economic aspects of human development form the tripartite concept of sustainability. According to the UN Brundtland Report from 1987, sustainable development describes development that ensures “that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. The programme line “Sustainability, Development, Business and Social Affairs” (“Nachhaltigkeit, Entwicklung, Wirtschaft und Soziales”, NEWS), which emerged from the previous programme lines “Business and Development Cooperation” and “Social Justice for Disadvantaged Persons“, addresses these highly topical and socially relevant cross-cutting issues. Our experts research the opportunities and challenges of human rights protection in the context of business and development cooperation and deal in detail with related problems in the areas of sustainability, environmental and climate protection.

Focus Areas

Our work focuses on the human rights dimensions of the complex issue of sustainability. We concentrate on current international social developments and their legal reception.

In this context, we also deal with practical issues in the field of business and human rights, structures of global transformations and inequalities and their categorisation in a wider political and social context. The necessary expertise is guaranteed by the interdisciplinary composition of the team in this programme line.

We also address the relationship between human rights and nature – also and not least with regard to current discussions on environmental and climate protection law.

Scientific Approach

Human rights research in the field of sustainability, with its economic, ecological and social aspects as well as development cooperation, is fraught with various problems, not least legal dogmatic ones, which is another reason why sound basic research in this field is essential. Furthermore, we aim to apply the results of our research and make them practically usable by civil society as well as public and private (economic) actors. As part of the projects we design and carry out, we work with them in cooperation on current business-related human rights challenges.

Therefore, our daily work includes in particular:

• the basic scientific exploration and investigation of current legal challenges for the present system of human rights protection in the field of sustainability with its economic, ecological and social aspects as well as in development cooperation (e.g. human rights and environmental due diligence obligations of companies; human rights in the environmental context; human rights dimensions of gender inequality in the context of climate change);
• the preparation of scientific papers on the results of our research work and the corresponding establishment and positioning of the LBI-GMR and the programme line NEWS in the (legal) scientific discourse;
• practice-oriented research into the need to respect human rights in the corporate and business context and scientifically based support for companies in complying with their human rights responsibilities, for example through the development of internal human rights strategies (e.g. human rights policies);
• training and sensitising employees to human rights issues in workshops and training sessions;
• educating civil society about the human rights and environmental responsibility of companies on the basis of (legal) scientific findings, e.g. in the context of public lectures and discussion events as well as (school) workshops.

Goals and Achievements

With its interdisciplinary team, our programme line NEWS aims to take a comprehensive look at the various important and topical issues in its research portfolio – sustainability, development, business and social affairs – from a human rights perspective. The programme line NEWS builds on the focus areas of the previous programme lines “Business and Development Cooperation” and “Social Justice for Disadvantaged Persons“ and develops their focal points further. An example of this is the first research project of the new programme line, in which a scientific study on audits and certification in supply/value chains is being carried out and the current foundations of corporate human rights and environmental due diligence obligations are being researched. Members of the programme line are also actively involved in the civil society and professional communication of their scientific findings in the context of public events and publications.

• Research project, including the preparation of a study on audits and certification in the context of human rights and environmental due diligence obligations of corporations
• Rights of Nature: “Subjectification” of nature from the point of view of international law, in particular human rights law