Business, Human Rights and the Environment: The Evolving Agenda

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvi

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Chiara Macchi

   Pages 1-13

3. The State Duty to Protect

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15

      PDF

   2. Responsibility Beyond Borders: Business, Human Rights, Climate Change and the State

      • Chiara Macchi

      Pages 17-41

4. The Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 43-43

      PDF

   2. The Normative Foundation of the Corporate Responsibility to Respect: A Critical Analysis

      • Chiara Macchi

      Pages 45-61

   3. From Nuremberg to Climate Change: The Corporate Responsibility to Respect

      • Chiara Macchi

      Pages 63-89

   4. Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence

      • Chiara Macchi

      Pages 91-107

5. Remedies

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 109-109

      PDF

   2. Business and Human Rights Litigation: Evolution and Trends

      • Chiara Macchi

      Pages 111-137

6. Looking Forward: Pathways to Improved State and Corporate Accountability

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 139-139

      PDF

   2. Towards a Business and Human Rights Binding Treaty: Opportunities and Challenges

      • Chiara Macchi

      Pages 141-152

   3. Conclusions

      • Chiara Macchi

      Pages 153-163

7. Back Matter

   Pages 165-201

   PDF

More than ten years after the adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, this book critically reviews the achievements, limits and next frontiers of business and human rights following the ‘protect, respect, remedy’ trichotomy. The UN Guiding Principles acted as a catalyst for hitherto unprecedented regulatory and judicial developments. 

The monograph by Macchi proposes a functionalist reading of the state’s duty to regulate the transnational activities of corporations in order to protect human rights and adopts a holistic approach to the corporate responsibility to respect, arguing that environmental and climate due diligence are inherent dimensions of human rights due diligence. 


In the volume emerging legislations are assessed on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence, as well as the potential and limitations of a binding international treaty on business and human rights. The book also reviews groundbreaking litigation against transnational corporations, such as Lungowe v. Vedanta or Milieudefensie v. Shell, for their human rights and climate change impacts. 


The book is primarily targeted at academic and non-academic legal experts, as well as at researchers and students looking at business and human rights issues through the lenses of legal studies (particularly international law and European law), political sciences, business ethics, and management. Additionally, it should also find a readership among practitioners working in the public or private sector (consultants, CSR officers, legal officers, etc.) willing to familiarize themselves with the expanding areas of liability, financial and reputational risks connected to the social and environmental impacts of global supply chains.


Chiara Macchi is currently Lecturer in Law at Wageningen University & Research in The Netherlands.

• Business and human rights
• Human rights due diligence
• Climate change and business
• Corporate accountability
• Climate change litigation
• UN Guiding Principles
• Extraterritorial obligations

“Macchi has skilfully provided an overview of the evolution of the business and human rights debate, which ultimately led to the adoption of the UNGPs. … it is a valuable contribution to students and scholars of political science and law, as well as practitioners and policy makers seeking a comprehensive introduction to environmental due diligence. The thorough footnotes and precise citations are also noteworthy and appreciated by readers.” (Viktoria Reisch, South African Journal of International Affairs, July 12. 2023)

• Law Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands

  Chiara Macchi

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