ID: 2205
Presenting Author: Mercy Tochukwu Christopher
Session: 725 - After the Assessment – Where’s the Value and What Happened in the End?
Status: pending
Fifteen years after the UNGPs, gaps remain between identifying and addressing impacts. This paper uses mining sector HRIAs to examine how companies have bridged the impact management gap.
Mining companies are increasingly conducting human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) as part of their commitments to respect human rights. Yet, nearly 15 years after the endorsement of the UN Guiding Principles, a gap remains between identifying impacts and taking meaningful steps to address them. The rise of human rights due diligence has encouraged companies to adopt more people-centred risk approaches, but integrating these approaches into governance and decision-making remains challenging. Siloed structures, fragmented accountability, and risk management systems focused primarily on risks to the business continue to limit the effectiveness of these assessments. Consequently, the influence of HRIAs on corporate decision-making and ongoing impact management is often limited. Are HRIAs effective tools for addressing adverse human rights impacts, or are they little more than tick-box exercises producing reports that sit on a shelf, quietly gathering dust? This paper draws on practical experience from conducting HRIAs and supporting companies to integrate findings into business processes and management systems. It provides insights into how companies have navigated siloed structures and business-focused risk approaches to better manage human rights impacts. Through case studies, it examines which steps companies can take - but often fail to - to translate HRIA findings into effective management measures, deliver positive outcomes for communities, and drive system change within their organisations.
Mercy Christopher is a human rights lawyer supporting multinational companies to identify and manage
human rights impacts across operations and complex supply chains.