Development

To move forward the process of negotiating an international legally binding instrument on business and human rights, practical steps are proposed in terms of 3 Ps: principles, provisions, and process.

The International Law Commission’s project on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters explicitly adopts a human rights-based approach to its core subject. Whether this will lead to harder forms of justiciability will largely depend on the capacity to frame disasters not as natural events but as both drivers and consequences of economic inequality.

A human rights-based approach to development must be used when approving new extractive projects in traditional First Nations territories. It will foster meaningful participation and address inequalities stemming from resource-based development while ensuring preparedness to deal with geopolitical and health challenges.

Bolivia, Argentina and Chile have the world’s largest reserves of lithium, a key resource for the energy transition from fossil fuels. However, intensive mining poses a major environmental risk for the region and the rights of indigenous communities.

The international community’s awareness of the growing occurrence of pandemics and comparable disasters emerges from instruments like the Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, the soft law nature of such tools leaves their implementation to the inconsistent ‘good faith’ of national actions.

Human rights crises emerge at the local level. Local governments are now at the forefront of human rights implementation and protection. A human rights-based approach to responding to the inevitable next emergency will depend on the preparedness of local governments.

The word crisis derives from krinomai, an ancient Greek word with meanings such as separating and sorting, but also distinguishing and deciding. A crisis creates a moment of truth and a possible wormhole to the future, to another future. Today, however, we are only acquainted with the negative connotation of this word. And that is unfortunate since a crisis can be so much more than a disaster.

You might be familiar with the old proverb about the butterfly effect. It’s the idea that tiny, unstoppable actions, like a butterfly flapping its wings, can cause a chain reaction in places on the other side of the world.

#BuildBackBetter is one of the hashtags from the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It speaks to hope, and to history too.