Every year, Human Rights Day (10 December) reminds us of the universal promise enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — that dignity, freedom, and equality are the birthright of every person.

But turning this promise into reality requires action, and as the world grapples with mounting crises — from climate-induced migration to the rapid rise of AI — businesses are uniquely positioned to drive this change.

This week, the global think tank The Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) unveiled its Top 10 Business and Human Rights Issues for 2025, a compelling roadmap for companies to navigate the crossroads of responsibility and opportunity.

From the rush to renewables to the precarious lives of gig economy workers, the report identifies ten key areas and new frontiers where responsible business practices will be critical in the coming years. Here’s what made the list:

1.  Ensuring accountability in the rush for renewables: Companies in renewables industries must be accountable for their impacts on land, water, and communities. This includes developing robust environmental and human rights impact assessments, recognising Free, Prior, Informed Consent processes with indigenous communities, and scaling up transparent reporting and effective grievance mechanisms.

WATCH: POWER SHIFT: The Renewable Energy Revolution

2. Preventing finance from fueling conflict: Finance is crucial in tackling the climate crisis and fostering sustainable development. However, corruption and illicit financial flows can exacerbate instability. Financial sector actors must implement responsible business standards and avoid investments that may contribute to conflicts or support oppressive regimes

3. Confronting AI risks: New international commitments to digital cooperation and regulation of AI are important steps in response to fast-moving technological change. Companies must ensure that AI technologies are developed and used in ways that respect human rights and avoid exacerbating inequalities.

Watch our interview with Alyssa Škopac from the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Institute

 

4. Protecting workers in the gig economy: The gig economy continues to grow, but many workers face precarious conditions. Ensuring fair wages, safe working conditions, and access to social protections for gig workers is essential.

5. Addressing climate-induced migration: Climate change is driving migration and displacement. Businesses must consider the human rights implications of climate-induced migration and work to support affected communities.

6. Promoting digital inclusion: As digital technologies become increasingly integral to daily life, ensuring that everyone has access to these technologies is crucial. This includes addressing the digital divide and promoting digital literacy.

RELATED: Addressing the digital divide: Leveraging AI to bridge educational inequalities

7. Safeguarding human rights in supply chains: Companies must ensure that their supply chains are free from human rights abuses, including forced labour and child labour. This requires robust due diligence processes and transparent reporting.

8. Supporting human rights defenders: Human rights defenders play a critical role in advocating for justice and accountability. Businesses must support and protect these individuals, particularly in contexts where they face threats and reprisals.

9. Ensuring access to remedy: When human rights abuses occur, affected individuals must have access to effective remedies. Companies must establish and maintain grievance mechanisms that are accessible, transparent, and effective.

10. Advancing gender equality: Gender equality remains a significant challenge in many parts of the world. Businesses must take proactive steps to promote gender equality in their operations and supply chains.

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What are the rights of the UDHR?

Here are the 30 fundamental rights and freedoms that apply to all people universally.

Here is the full list of rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), in order of the Articles:

  1. Right to equality: All people are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
  2. Freedom from discrimination: Everyone is entitled to rights without distinction of any kind.
  3. Right to life, liberty, and security of person.
  4. Freedom from slavery or servitude.
  5. Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
  6. Right to recognition as a person before the law.
  7. Right to equality before the law and equal protection under it.
  8. Right to an effective remedy for rights violations.
  9. Freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile.
  10. Right to a fair and public trial by an impartial tribunal.
  11. Presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a public trial.
  12. Right to privacy: Protection from arbitrary interference in privacy, family, home, or correspondence.
  13. Right to freedom of movement and residence within one’s country, and to leave or return.
  14. Right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution.
  15. Right to a nationality and to change it.
  16. Right to marry and found a family, with free and full consent of the spouses.
  17. Right to own property individually or collectively.
  18. Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
  19. Freedom of opinion and expression.
  20. Right to peaceful assembly and association.
  21. Right to participate in government and access public service, including through free elections.
  22. Right to social security and economic, social, and cultural rights.
  23. Right to work, free choice of employment, fair wages, and safe working conditions.
  24. Right to rest and leisure, including reasonable working hours and holidays.
  25. Right to an adequate standard of living, including food, clothing, housing, and healthcare.
  26. Right to education, with free and compulsory elementary education.
  27. Right to participate in cultural life and benefit from science and its advancements.
  28. Right to a social and international order where these rights can be fully realised.
  29. Duty to the community and limitations on rights to respect others and maintain order.
  30. Protection from actions aiming to destroy the rights and freedoms in this declaration.

These rights form a universal standard, establishing the foundation for dignity, equality, and freedom globally.

Businesses have a crucial role to play in shaping a more just and equitable world. By prioritising human rights in their operations and supply chains, companies can help build a future where everyone can enjoy equal dignity and rights.