From the Human Rights Council: 9th round of negotiations on the UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights

From 23 to 27 October 2023, the ninth session of the intergovernmental working group which was launched by the UN Human Rights Council in 2014 for the development of an international legally binding UN treaty on business and human rights (also known as the UN Treaty) took place in Geneva. The aim is to prevent further human rights violations by transnational corporations and other companies worldwide. After almost ten years, the states finally seem to have arrived in negotiation mode. New proposals on how negotiations can be organised more effectively in the future give hope for further progress in this process. Even if much remains to be done, people must be better protected from dangerous corporate activities for the foreseeable future.

A policy brief from FES Geneva provides a little insight into the process and the current status of the negotiations.