The Shift Library

Shift’s library has a growing collection of resources, tools and reports designed to help a variety of stakeholders put the UN Guiding Principles into practice. By default, resources are listed chronologically. You can use the search bar to look for titles by keyword or author, or use the filters below to search by change agent, thematic expertise, pillar of the UN Guiding Principles and/or date. Looking for Valuing Respect tools and resources? Visit the dedicated library of resources of the project, here.

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Enforcement of Mandatory Due Diligence: Key Design Considerations for Administrative Supervision

In the context of the debate around mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (mHREDD) Shift and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have come together to explore how administrative supervision can complement civil liability for harms in the effective enforcement of due diligence requirements, and suggest practical guidance for policy-makers to avoid pitfalls in other areas of corporate regulation.

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Audio | Getting Contractual Provisions on Human Rights, Right

A conversation with Shift’s General Counsel, John Sherman III on the Model Contract Clauses for Human Rights published by a working group of the American Bar Association, and how they can help companies incentivize rights-respecting behavior in suppliers – without the need to reinvent the wheel.

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Ten Years After: From UN Guiding Principles To Multi-Fiduciary Obligations

Ten years on from the UN Guiding Principles, the soft law of human rights due diligence has helped provide a path beyond shareholder primacy towards stakeholder governance. This is now influencing hard law, particularly in Europe. In this paper, Shift's Chair, Professor John Ruggie, and our two co-founders, Caroline Rees and Rachel Davis explain the journey.

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“Signals of Seriousness” for Human Rights Due Diligence

This discussion draft is intended for the consideration of the European Commission and other stakeholders as the Commission develops proposals on mHREDD and considers how national regulators would implement any such legislation. In this discussion draft, we propose some key signals that national regulators could use in assessing the seriousness or quality of a company’s HRDD, grouped into six broad areas of company practice

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Accountability as part of Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence: Three Key Considerations for Business

In the context of the European debate on mandatory human rights due diligence, we explore what well-designed mandatory measures could look like, with a focus on the role of accountability – or consequences – for meeting a new legal standard of conduct. We set out three key considerations that we believe businesses that are committed to meeting their responsibility to respect human rights should keep in mind.

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Keynote Address by John Ruggie at the Conference ‘Business & Human Rights: Towards a Common Agenda for Action’

These remarks were originally delivered by Professor John Ruggie at the Conference ‘Business & Human Rights: Towards a Common Agenda for Action’, on December 2, 2019. The Conference was co-organized by Shift and the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU. Many thanks to the government of Finland for convening this timely and important conference. […]

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