The future is uncertain. Whether climate policy, trade relations, or disruptive technology, we cannot be sure of how key factors reshaping the world will play out in the coming decade. Also, the operating context for business and other stakeholders is formed by the complex interactions of many factors, but often factors are considered in isolation and responses, siloed. The climate crisis plays a large role in shaping our future, with a growing impact on human rights. Water scarcity, wildfires, extreme weather, and rising sea levels already disproportionately affect marginalized populations, resulting in loss of livelihoods, forcing migration, and increasing conflict.
This session will align with and input into a final report on the work we did in 2020 with BSR's Human Rights Working Group. The group helped to develop the scenarios, identified the risks and opportunities that business, including technology companies face at this intersection, and what it would look like to develop strategies that prepare for these futures.
How will you deal with varying numbers of participants in your session?:We would love to have the ability to have breakout rooms, and they are not set so we could have 1, 2, or 3 breakout rooms of varying number of attendees. It would be ideal to have 10 people in a breakout in case some don't feel comfortable speaking, but we could have more or less. If we only have enough people that attend for one breakout or main discussion, that is also fine.
Samantha leads BSR's work at the intersection of people and climate, including how business action includes justice at the core in response to the climate crisis.
Hannah works with multinational companies to integrate human rights approaches into business operations and products, with a focus on new and disruptive technologies. She also leads Tech Against Trafficking.