This week, feminists and human rights defenders from around the world will gather in Geneva to push for action on a matter of great urgency – the 8th session of negotiations for a UN Binding Treaty on Business & Human Rights, legislation at the international level that would hold corporations accountable for their business impacts. From October 24th  to 28th, 2022, States, civil society and representatives of communities will gather to discuss the UN Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group’s draft treaty on business & human rights.

Why corporate accountability? And why now?

For far too long, corporate impacts have been left unchecked, and as a result, women, children, rural and Indigenous Peoples, migrants and refugees have paid too great a price. At this very moment, we are in the midst of a global emergency. The last four years have seen the hottest weather ever recorded on the planet. 90% of disasters are now classified as climate-related. Rising sea levels, melting glaciers and heat waves threaten the homes and lives of millions.

Looking back two years ago, a global pandemic exposed weaknesses in healthcare, social security and economic systems. Marginalised communities were the worst hit, due to the corporate capture of healthcare systems. Only 50% of the world’s population was able to access essential health services. To make matters worse, vaccine injustice and lack of access to treatment compounded the effect.

A common pattern seems to connect dire situations like these, and the extensive, long-term harm they have caused to communities. Negative outcomes are multiplied by the impunity enjoyed by corporate actors and the prevalence of the interests of major economies that we have seen prioritise profit over people time and time again.Corporations have been the frontrunners in climate pollution, urbanisation, privatisation of social services and environmental destruction, creating and exacerbating inequalities.

Such injustices further worsen the realities of communities in marginalised situations and the pandemic was a prime example. Despite only making up 39% of employment globally, women accounted for over half of all job losses during the pandemic. Further, women are more likely to work in low-wage and informal sectors, without benefits such as paid sick leave, health insurance or social protection.

A staggering  69 of the richest 100 entities in the world are corporations, not countries, however, multinational corporations often escape accountability when their operations hurt workers, communities, or the environment.

Indeed, millions of people labouring in various parts of the global supply chain continue to suffer due to unregulated business activities.  An estimated 50 million people are currently estimated to be living in modern slavery, of which 28 million are people forced to work in sectors including manufacturing, construction and agriculture. Unfortunately, the combined impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, armed conflict and escalating climate change has seen the number of people living in modern slavery increase by 10 million in the past five years alone, with women and girls comprising more than half this figure. Whilst those in situations of greatest vulnerability (the poor, socially excluded, migrant workers, and those working in the informal economy) are most affected, businesses continue to profit. In 2017, the ILO estimated that the total profits generated from forced labour in the private economy worldwide amounted to $150 bn per year. Corporate actions have violated the rights of individuals and communities across the world, stealing their land, homes and lives.

Unfortunately, this reality has barely changed over the decades. Global demands for corporate accountability have echoed for over nearly 50 years. Yet, even now, unsafe and negligent corporate practices continue to lead to tragedies such as the Rana Plaza disaster and the Brumadinho dam collapse in Brazil.

As the past has evidenced, and the present continues to confirm, justice is out of reach without legally enforceable policies in place to protect the rights of communities. As of now, there is no singular international legally binding framework that regulates business activities. The gap is particularly worrisome in the context of multinational corporations spending billions of dollars to buy influence in decision-making and regulatory spaces and undermining human rights.

A feminist perspective

In policy-making spaces, it is even more crucial to ask: Who is setting the agenda? Who has a seat at the table? Who benefits, and who hurts? What does access to remedy look like? Feminists for a Binding Treaty (F4BT) is a coalition of over 30 human rights organisations, representing a large and diverse network of women’s lived experiences, shared analysis and expertise from around the world in the Binding Treaty process.We are resolute in ensuring that a global human rights framework to regulate corporations is gender-sensitive and just.

We aim to ensure that feminist realities are reflected in the treaty’s protections. This includes building upon and strengthening provisions for mandatory gender impact assessments of business activities, led by women and others who identify as a sexual or gender minority, gender-responsive justice and remedy mechanisms, and a safe environment for women human rights defenders. By providing an avenue for women and disadvantaged communities to be actively part of the conversation, the coalition is working to make the treaty negotiation process inclusive.

In the weeks to come, feminists will take their year-round campaigns, experiences and demands for justice to Geneva, to amplify the voices of millions of women and gender-diverse people across the world. Even as corporations and other vested interests argue against the process, and the very need for regulation, the bottom line is clear. The Binding Treaty is a tool that can strengthen protections for communities and human rights defenders in every part of the world, and close off the avenues of escape for corporate elites. It is a step forward – an urgently needed one.

What you can do

How can you help support the process?

• Check your government’s position on the binding treaty
• Call on your government to constructively engage in the negotiations in Geneva from 24th to 29th October 2022, and join local and global civil society efforts in your country.

Learn more about this topic in ‘From Formalism to Feminism,’ a Special Issue of the Business and Human Rights Journal.

Feminists for a Binding Treaty is a coalition of over 30 human rights organizations, representing a large and diverse network of women’s lived experiences, shared analysis and expertise from around the world in the process for a Binding Treaty. You can stay plugged with our advocacy on Twitter at #feminists4bindingtreaty!