The current pandemic accentuates this tension even more. Not only does it constitute a global public health emergency, but it is also generating a major international economic crisis. The consequences for workers, particularly those in developing countries, who lack social safety nets, can be disastrous. The World Bank estimates that Covid19 impacts could push over 100 Million people into extreme poverty.

However, the experience of the pandemic is also advancing unprecedented reflections about our current global economic system. The World Economic Forum is discussing “The Great Reset”; several UN organizations have called for “Building Forward Better” and a “green and just recovery”. Scholars in economics ask to reimagine capitalism and to assign economic value to the societal impacts of business activities. In addition, a growing number of companies are signaling their intention to be good citizens, even if implementation in practice often lags behind announced public commitments.

In this talk, Professor Dorothée Baumann-Pauly will argue that the current crisis offers a unique opportunity to innovate and develop sustainable business models. By placing human rights at the heart of their business models, companies can reduce systemic risks. They can build more resilient supply chains and stronger organizations. Companies that embrace this challenge are set up for long-term business success. At the same time, they become a force for sustainable development that creates value for business and society.

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Professor Dorothée Baumann-Pauly is a scholar whose work has been devoted for many years to the integration of human rights in the field of business. She is the director of the Geneva Center for Business and Human Rights at the University of Geneva, the first human rights center in a business school in Europe. Since 2013, she has been Research Director at the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights at New York University. Her applied research focuses on the development of business models that allow for the coexistence of profit and human rights principles. In 2016, she co-founded a network of business schools to integrate human rights into business education as well as the BHR Young Researchers Summit for emerging scholars. Dorothée received her PhD in Economics from the University of Zurich in 2010 while working for the Fair Labor Association, a multi-stakeholder initiative to improve labor rights in global supply chains.