Reflections from the 2025 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights

By Keri Lloyd and Faris Natour

The 14th annual UN Forum on Business and Human Rights at the UN in Geneva wrapped up last week, providing a great opportunity to meet with many fellow practitioners over three intense days. We experienced the usual jolt of energy and inspiration that the Forum brings each year, but we also heard expressions of worry and frustration in the hallways. Worry about the weakening of the international human rights framework, the funding crisis experienced by many NGOs, academic centers, and by the UN itself, and worry about shrinking budgets along with more responsibility for corporate human rights teams. There was frustration about the slow pace of progress, and about the continued focus on due diligence regulations distracting us from actual improvements on the ground.

Attending our first (for Keri) and 13th (for Faris) UN Forum, the energy felt more positive than last year, despite the challenges we face as a field. For the well over 4,000 participants joining in person or online, the Forum provided a reminder that while business and human rights work can feel lonely and exhausting at times, we are not alone. There is an ever-growing number of us working to advance business respect for human rights, and while we may not always agree on the how, we are all pulling on the same rope, working towards the same goal.

But the Forum is more than just a vibe check. In addition to the formal sessions, it has become a magnet for so many side sessions, workshops, and fierce debates about the practical solutions that will move us closer to the goal of business respect for human rights. Here are some of our key takeaways from these discussions:

The UNGPs are back (ok, they never left…)!

The continued uncertainty of the regulatory landscape, and maybe also the emotional rollercoaster that has been the EU’s Omnibus package over the last year, is leading to a recentering of the UNGPs and the OECD Guidelines as the key standards that guide companies in their human rights due diligence.

The UNGPs will turn 15 next year and, like any teenager, they have evolved to the place where they can replace feelings of self-doubt with self-confidence. Our clients operate globally, and we have found that building a globally consistent due diligence system based on broadly accepted standards will put them in the best position to comply with the patchwork of mandatory due diligence regulations that are already here and sure to grow.

Too much focus on due diligence, or not enough?

One of the more contentious topics at the Forum this year was the continued focus on due diligence. Participants in the sessions and in the halls voiced frustration, at times bordering on disbelief, that 14 years in, we are still talking mostly about identifying the problems, and not enough about solutions, remedy, and real impact for rightsholders. Meanwhile, other sessions, such as the B-Tech workshop on Investing in Responsible Tech and AI, rightly focused on the need for more due diligence in critical areas, such as in the development of AI products and services.

Of course, both things are true. Human rights impact assessments must become an essential part of AI innovation and development, and corporate human rights due diligence should cover the full value chain, including downstream impacts. At the same time, due diligence cannot just be about identifying, prioritizing, and reporting on risks. The mitigation of risks and remediation of impacts are the end goal, and effective due diligence requires a commitment–and budget–to address its findings.

The need for a human-centered approach to AI.

The Forum highlighted many of the things that AI cannot replace in our field: in-person connection, shared learning, mutual support, and community-building. At the same time, it made clear that AI is here to stay, with real implications for the way we work and the people and issues we are focused on.

On the issues side, sessions led by UNI Global Union and the Working Group on Business and Human Rights underscored the need to safeguard human rights across the AI lifecycle, including protections for the data enrichment workers who make AI possible. These conversations brought lived experience and expertise into the room, fostered collaboration, and offered practical guidance. In doing so, they reflected the Forum at its best.

On the work side, we heard both optimism and skepticism. Participants shared their efforts trying to tackle long-standing challenges, such as identifying and assessing human rights risks at scale, while we also debated where AI is and is not appropriate and effective in human rights due diligence. Across the Forum, the field’s strengths were on full display: collaboration, resilience, and a commitment to impact — alongside widely felt challenges like shrinking resources, quickly evolving issues, and pressure on civic space. Can we leverage those strengths as a field to lead in using AI responsibly, recognizing and designing for its limitations while realizing the benefits it can bring?

The countless discussions and exchanges at the UN Forum, with many of our clients and peers, were both informative and inspiring. We will not solve the challenges our field faces in one year, but we will continue to make progress working with our clients, peers, and other key stakeholders to drive transformative change that places people at the center.

To learn more about how we support companies on human rights due diligence and human-centered AI, please reach out at hello@articleoneadvisors.com.