Corporate responsibility and human rights

In a roundtable discussion, several executives talked about corporate responsibility and human rights. Ben Juratowitch of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, said there is no inherent contradiction between rules of international law concerning the rights of indigenous peoples and those concerning protection of foreign investment. Tensions may arise in the application of those rights to specific facts, and in the taking into consideration of potentially competing interests. Jeffrey S. Collins of Chevron Corp described what he believes has been significant ''uptake'' of the Guiding Principles by companies, and then explore the challenges and opportunities for them to continue to move forward on business and human rights. Sara Seck of the Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario, said to close the ''governance gaps of globalization'' will require implementation of the business responsibility to respect rights so as not to undermine the work of state legislatures and courts.