Climate Change, Business Enterprises and Human Rights Due Diligence

Abstract

In a world that runs on money, climate change is indeed, a business issue. There is an ongoing critical discourse on the detrimental effects of businesses and their activities on human rights and climate change. In such a context, this paper attempts to understand the inter-relationship between business, human rights and climate change. In international human rights law, there is a gradual shift from the mere operationalization of a soft law framework that assigns a public law-based duty to states, to comparatively stronger private laws that create transnational, and social norm-based responsibility of enterprises to respect human rights. This paper attempts to examine this shift. Further, it explores international frameworks that assign corporate responsibilities towards  environment and human health and how the adverse effects of climate change on the company can act as an incentive towards climate change action, in line with human rights standards. It integrates the principles of morality with rule of law, as a way to internalise the advancement of good corporate governance vis-à-vis human environment. The paper concludes by looking at Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, as the answer to nudge private business entities to mitigate environmental harms in line with set human rights standards.