Research Activities

Research Projects

A New Horizon of Business and Human Rights Study - Beyond the structure of developed countries vs developing countries(2020_2_40_029)

Outline

In 2011, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights was unanimously endorsed. Since then, led by EU member states, quite a number of states have published national action plans on business and human rights in order to reflect and implement the UN Guiding Principles (UNGP) in concrete policies and measures aiming to prevent adverse impact on human rights caused by business entities. This research will examine the trade policies and measures enlisted in the national adaptation plans (NAPs) of developed and developing countries, through the lens of human rights, by looking at their direction, characteristics, scope, method, and impact. The analysis will clarify whether the governance gap that UNGP meant to fill is narrowed in practice by the policy measures spelled out in the NAPs of developed and developing countries. The outcome of the research will draw implications for the Japanese government (which is in the process of drafting a NAP), for Japanese businesses with overseas operations, and for Japanese society as whole, dedicated to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) based on respect for human rights.

Period

April 2020 - March 2022

Leader of the Research Project

Yamada Miwa

Publications

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