Benefit-Sharing as a Bridge between the Environmental and Human Rights Accountability of Multinational Corporations

This paper analyses the tight linkages between human rights and environmental degradation due to sub-standard corporate conduct. It then proceeds to outline the development of international standards on corporate responsibility and accountability in relation to environmental protection, highlighting the significant level of detail and convergence of international standards for corporate environmental accountability. Against this background, the paper systematically examines instances in which conceptual and normative developments under international environmental law, and in particular under the Convention on Biological Diversity, have contributed to developing international standards on corporate responsibility to respect human rights. The paper furthers the understanding of the key concept of benefit-sharing, teasing out its inter-state and intra-state implications, as well as its current and potential applications to private companies. It concludes with some future perspectives on the role of benefit-sharing in the context of the green economy vis-à-vis the environmental and human rights dimensions of corporate accountability.