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Regional dialogue, Europe: A Rights-Based Approach to Sustainable Finance

Since the unanimous endorsement of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), various stakeholder groups – businesses, civil society, intergovernmental platforms – have been working on clarifying the practical implications of the ‘responsibility to respect human rights’ for financial institutions. At the same time, in their journey to sustainability, financial institutions are increasingly showing willingness to contribute to the achievement of global priorities such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. How do these efforts come together in a coherent human rights-aligned sustainable finance agenda? The session provided an overview of industry efforts from the region to advance the implementation of the UNGPs and discussed how to connect - from a human rights perspective - the various sustainability-driven actions of financial institutions, to ultimately arrive at an inclusive, rights-based sustainable finance agenda.