Ten years of accounting for human rights: a critical review of how practice has evolved and what might come next

The text discusses the evolution of corporate accountability for human rights, emphasizing the United Nations Guiding Principles (UNGPs) and the shift toward mandatory human rights due diligence. Despite progress in the business and human rights (BHR) field, the challenge lies in integrating human rights into accounting. The chapter reviews developments since the UNGPs' endorsement, urging the international accounting community to address human rights impacts effectively. It explores social and environmental accounting (SEA) frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the International Integrated Reporting (IR) Framework, highlighting differences in their focus on stakeholders and materiality. The text calls for innovative approaches to measure and account for companies' impacts on people and their rights within the evolving institutional environment.