The Global Business Initiative on Human Rights

Part of GBI's "What 'good' looks like" series for practitioners and policy makers, this podcast explores how human rights practitioners can communicate effectively in a variety of different contexts. We also share recommendations for policymakers on how they can regulate external communications on human rights. GBI Director Sophia Areias leads our discussion with GBI's CEO and communications expert Ron Popper and incoming GBI Director Benn Hogan.

GBI Senior Advisors Gerald Pachoud, Anita Ramasastry and Jonathan Drimmer discuss how companies can tackle the complexities of direct linkage, why they should, and how policymakers can approach direct linkage in mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation.

GBI Senior Advisors Gerald Pachoud, Anita Ramasastry and Jonathan Drimmer discuss why international criminal law should now be treated as a material business risk, particularly for companies operating in or connected to conflict-affected and high-risk contexts.

The discussion explores how exposure can arise not only through direct conduct, but also through business relationships, supply chains, products, services and operational decisions. It also looks at what companies can do in practice to strengthen governance, due diligence and risk monitoring.

Read the issue paper, Blind Spot in the Boardroom:

https://gbihr.org/updates/new-gbi-issue-paper-blind-spot-in-the-boardroom-why-businesses-ignore-international-criminal-law-and-why-they-shouldnt

Explore GBI’s conflict page:

https://gbihr.org/business-practice-portal/operating-with-respect-for-human-rights-in-conflict-affected-and-high-risk-areas

On the day of the final adoption of Omnibus I by the Council of the EU, our GBI Conversations podcast features Heidi Hautala, GBI Special Advisor and former Vice-President of the European Parliament, in conversation with GBI Director, Sophia Areias.

Heidi and Sophia mark this moment, looking at back to how we got here and what here looks like now, considering implications for company preparation for the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), and also considers how due diligence-related expectations are appearing in several other pieces of EU Regulation.

Recorded live in Geneva at the ICRC, John Morrison in discussion with GBI Senior Advisors Gerald Pachoud.

In partnership with the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS), GBI recorded this podcast exploring what meaningful stakeholder engagement looks like in practice when companies address climate change in Brazil.

The episode brings together Sophia Areias (GBI Director), Clara Serva (Partner, TozziniFreire Advogados and GBI Regional Advisor for Latin America), and Maria Rufino (Technical Analyst, CEBDS) to share insights from GBI’s ongoing webinar series ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil.

Episode 14 - GBI Conversations - Phil Bloomer and Ron Popper by The Global Business Initiative on Human Rights

In discussion with GBI Senior Advisor Anita Ramasastry, GBI Regional Advisor for South Asia, Rishi Sher Singh, and GBI Director Sophia Areias, we explore insights and practical examples of how companies can engage with suppliers to advance human rights.

This podcast accompanies GBI's latest guidance briefing in the “What ‘good’ looks like” series. GBI CEO, Ron Popper, and Director for External Engagement and Informing Policy, Sophia Areias, discuss insights and examples from practice of how businesses can truly and effectively integrate human rights into their core governance processes. It also provides practice-based recommendations to policymakers working on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence.

GBI Advisors Anita Ramasastry, Jonathan Drimmer and Gerald Pachoud, and GBI Director Sophia Areias discuss the challenges posed by the shifting policy and political landscape, and how business can navigate these uncertainties through practice. This episode was recorded on 27 February 2025.