Human rights violations by corporations and their complicity in genocide take centre stage at the UN
11th session of negotiations for a Binding Treaty on transnational corporations and human rights open following a mass demonstration in support of Palestine in Geneva
21 October 2025, Geneva, Switzerland
This week (20-24 October 2025), the 11th session of negotiations of a legally binding instrument to effectively regulate transnational corporations are taking place at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland.
Unlike voluntary frameworks like the climate COPs or the Global Plastics Treaty, the UN Binding Treaty, as the process is known, focuses on obligations, not pledges. It is grounded in the principle that corporations must be held legally accountable for human rights violations and environmental destruction throughout their operations and value chains.
The consistent participation of communities affected by activities of transnational corporations, civil society organisations, trade unions and social movements makes it one of the most strongly supported processes in the history of UN human rights negotiations.
Eugene Mulenga, representative of communities affected by TNC’s activities from Zambia expressed “The continued presence of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) in these negotiations is a disgrace for the UN. The ICC had the audacity to play the victim and expressly asked the Chair to block others from naming specific corporations. The participation of the TNC lobby in these negotiations is a clear conflict of interest. They are foxes seated at the table, overseeing the security of the henhouse”
Joseph Purugganan the co-director of Focus on the Global South and the Asian Task Force on the Binding Treaty explains: “Global South countries know too well that TNCs are the machinery that drive neocolonialism. Delegates reiterated today that this process must follow its original intent and close the legislative gaps that allow TNCs to commit crimes with impunity. For 11 years Global North countries and their satellites, as well as the corporate lobby, have tried to undermine this process. This year we are sadly witnessing how gulf states defend investors rights before human rights.”
The ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people emerged again during the negotiations as the clearest example of a global economic system rooted in colonial practices. The corporate war machine fueling the genocide and proposals to clear Gaza to make way for luxury resorts would never be imaginable without the direct involvement of transnational corporations. The State of Palestine has consistently participated in the negotiations.
Rana Arrabi, Palestine UN Representative, asserted during the first day of the session that “Corporate powers continue to expand unchecked. Transnational corporations are not neutral actors, they profit from occupation. The objective of this legally binding instrument is to protect people from corporate greed but some states from the Global North continue to promote counter agendas that advance corporate interests.”
The day prior to the negotiations, a delegation of the Global Inter-parliamentary Network (GIN) that support the UN Binding Treaty joined a march under the banner “Peoples over Profit – TNCs Complicit in Genocide”. Rima Hassan (France/Palestine)and Rudi Kennes (Belgium), members of the left group in the European Parliament, were joined by Dr. Khanyisile Litchfield-Tshabalala (South Africa, Member of parliament) and Dadah Kiram Ismula (Philippines, Member of parliament) to march alongside thousands of people through the streets of Geneva. Activists and movements denounced the role of corporations like Chevron, BP, Microsoft, Amazon and Glencore in sustaining Israel’s occupation and genocide against the Palestinian people.
Hassan emphasised that “The economic actors who profit from the conflict are the hidden face of the genocide in Gaza. The same way that previous generations fought for the end of colonial rule in Vietnam and then in South Africa, this generation’s struggle is the liberation of the Palestinian people.”
In the last years the treaty process has gained new momentum with a strong participation of many countries from Africa, Latin America and Asia. For the first time, the UN organised intersessional consultations throughout 2024, expanding beyond the usual single annual negotiation week. This shift marks renewed institutional backing to the process and raises expectations that the treaty could be finalised within the next two to five years. This week will conclude three years of negotiations based on the Draft treaty presented in 2023. However, affected communities have always stressed the adoption of a Binding Treaty on TNCs and Human rights cannot be rushed and made at the expense of the fundamental contents of the instrument.
NOTE TO EDITORS
For further information or to arrange interviews with spokespeople you can contact:
Sol Trumbo Vila: soltrumbovila[a]tni.org
Ghislaine Fandel: ghislaine[a]foei.org
Raffaele Morgantini: raffaele[a]cetim.org
This press release is issued by the Global Campaign to Reclaim Peoples’ Sovereignty, Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity (Global Campaign), a network of over 250 social movements, civil society organisations, trade unions and communities affected by the activities of transnational corporations, representing 260 million people globally.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- UN library of official documents for the 11th Session
- Human Rights Council Procedural Decision A/HCR/56/116 adopted in July 2024 providing additional resources to the process.
- 26/9 Resolution that started this process adopted in 2014.
- Website Global Campaign to Reclaim Peoples Sovereignty, Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity.
- Report The TNC Lobby: Foxes in the Henhouse. How the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) function as the corporate lobby (“TNC Lobby”) inside the United Nations. Published 18/10/2025
- “Frontiers of an effective Binding Treaty”. Key arguments the Global Campaign puts forwards for an effective Binding Treaty
- Website Global Interparliamentarian Network in support of the Binding Treaty
Social Media: Content will be posted in EN and SP throughout the week via the Global Campaign Bluesky and Instagram accounts, focusing on live updates from Global Campaign spokespeople, actions, interventions and side events. Follow also #BindingTreaty #StopCorporateImpunity
