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OxHRH

Human Rights and the SDGs: Progress or a Missed Opportunity?

Siobhán McInerney-Lankford - 6th January 2017

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

On 25 September 2015 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which would replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The 17 SDGs, 169 targets and 230 indicators cover poverty, health, education, water and sanitation, but also inequalities, gender, climate and institutions. While the […]

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OxHRH

Towards an International Legally Binding Instrument on Business and Human Rights

Gosia Pearson - 8th December 2016

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are the first global set of guidelines for states and companies to prevent and address the risk of adverse impacts on human rights related to business activity. They cover three areas: the state duty to protect human rights, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and […]

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OxHRH

Food Deserts In Appalachia: A Socio-Economic Ill and Opportunities for Reform

Nicholas Stump - 15th November 2016

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

Food deserts constitute a public health phenomenon in which communities lack sufficient access to nutritious whole foods.  The U.S. Appalachian region currently faces a food desert crisis of problematic proportions: this crisis stems from neoliberalism’s dire legacy and a rapidly transitioning energy sector, which have left the region devastated. To combat food deserts, the Appalachian […]

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OxHRH

The Human Rights Council – Highlighted Outcomes of the 33rd Session

Gosia Pearson - 22nd October 2016

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

The three intensive weeks of the 33rd session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) concluded on 30 September 2016. They resulted in thirty resolutions, a Presidential statement, and the appointment of five mandate holders. While many issues tackled at the sessions were recurrent items previously discussed at the forum, several outcomes stand out. The HRC […]

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OxHRH

European Court of Human Rights Rules on Greek Debt Restructuring

Menelaos Markakis - 30th July 2016

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

There is a seemingly endless stream of cases originating from the Greek crisis, which has preoccupied the national, European, and international courts and bodies alike. The judgment delivered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of Mamatas and Others v Greece is of the utmost legal and political significance. The case […]

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OxHRH

Sweating in the Park or in the Factory: Beyoncé’s New Sports Wear Company and Respect for Human Rights

Aleydis Nissen - 28th June 2016

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

In April, Beyoncé released her album Lemonade. In May, she launched her sports clothing brand Ivy Park. The former was hailed as a ‘new civil rights movement’, while the latter was vilified as a ‘sweat shop’ brand by the media. Whether this allegation is true or untrue, this contribution argues that the responsibility to respect […]

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OxHRH

Sustainable Conservation: The Rights-Based Way to Save Africa’s Rainforests

Simon Counsell - 20th June 2016

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

A new report by the Rainforest Foundation UK (RFUK) shows that people living in Africa’s Congo Basin face widespread and intensifying human rights abuses in the name of conservation. Addressing this is not only a matter of basic justice; it is also about making conservation more effective and sustainable. At the World Park Congress in […]

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OxHRH

Scoring More Than Goals: How mega sporting events’ preparation should take human rights protection seriously

Flavia Scabin - 27th May 2016

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

When Brazil was chosen to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup, there were celebrations all over the country. Football is widely recognised as a national passion; it is easier to make small talk about the national championship than about the weather and World Cup game days are usually considered non-official holidays. What could be better, […]

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OxHRH

Appalachia in Crisis: A Human Rights Approach to Environmental Justice in the U.S.

Nicholas Stump - 18th April 2016

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

The natural resource extraction industry has long wrought environmental, social, and economic devastation in Appalachia—a U.S. region historically defined by a deeply exploitative coal extraction mono-economy. However, in tandem with the (climate change-driven) global pivot towards non-carbon, cleaner energy sources, widely publicised market and legal developments have resulted in a systemic collapse of the once […]

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OxHRH

A Tale of Two Treaties: The Clean Power Plan

Patrick McGinley - 23rd March 2016

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

World leaders met near Paris almost a century ago promising to cooperate to end the scourge of war. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson touted his country’s contributions to international cooperation leading to the 1919 Treaty of Versailles: “at last the world knows America as the savior of the world!”. Now, another historic international agreement negotiated near […]

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OxHRH

Part II: The intersection of Business and Human Rights at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Nicolas Carrillo-Santarelli - 11th March 2016

Business & Resources & Environment & Development

The previous post on the Kaliña and Lokono Peoples case explained how the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) tried to overcome its jurisdictional limitations in order to establish corporate responsibility to respect and protect human rights in light of recent developments. In doing so, the Court found that corporations can violate human rights and, […]

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