Human rights 'due diligence': What is it and why is it important?

When a company says it cares about human rights, how do you ensure that matches what’s happening on the ground?Åsne Burgess Øyehaug, CSR manager in Hydro, and Kayla Winarsky Green of the Danish Institute for Human Rights, discuss “due diligence” in human rights, an increasing focus among companies, NGOs and the authorities.Due diligence has origins in the financial world. It means taking a close look at the details when entering into a deal. In the world of corporate social responsibility, it means confirming the reality of what’s on paper with systems to identify human rights risks and taking proper action to remedy them.