International Conference

The Added Value of SDG for Labour Rights Protection

29-30 June, Trento, Italy

Organizational Committee
Riccardo Salomone, Professor, University of Trento
Attila Kun, Professor, Károli Gáspár University
Vania Brino, professor, Ca-Foscary University
Chiara Cristofolini, researcher, University of Trento
Elena Sychenko, adjunct professor, University of Bologna,
visiting professor, University of Trento

The achievement of decent work is a part of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8. This international commitment is upheld by the states and by big business. The majority of ESG (Economic, Social Governance) or RBC (Responsible Business Conduct) or CSR (Corporate social responsibility) instruments have strong links with the SDGs. National initiatives putting forward the protection of labour rights in developing countries also refer to SDG and perceive social clauses in trade agreements and in the General system of preferences (GSP) as a way to achieve sustainability.

The conference will seek the contributions from scholars, practitioners and NGOs about the contributions of different SDG initiatives to labour rights protection and, in particular, to the achievement of SDG targets 8.5.- 8.8.( full and productive employment and decent work, equal pay for work of equal value, reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments).

The conference will comprise three panels based on the three pillars of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the topics to be discussed include the following:

o The states’ obligation to protect labour rights:
The value of international trade agreements for achieving SDG 8;
Public procurement and labour rights protection;
Evaluating the impact of GSP schemes on the protection of labour rights in developing countries.

o The obligation of business to respect labour rights:
Financial instruments to ensure labour rights protection (public instrument as, e.g. EU “Next generation EU, or social requirements of private banks);
The problem of greenwashing;
Scandals as a push for labour rights protection in MNCs;
Trying to build a system in the chaos of reporting standards: mission impossible?
Are the ESG rankings the evidence of respect to labour rights?
Certification and labour rights protection.

o The obligations of states and business to remedy the violations of labour rights
Extraterritorial protection of labour rights in the courts of developed countries;
Alternative grievance mechanism:
Public (OECD NCP, World bank) and private (e.g. Fair trade, Fair Wear);
The role of NGOs in remedying the violations of labour rights.

Important dates
 Abstract Submission Deadline: 25.05.2023
 Notification of Acceptance: 30.05.2023
Please, submit your proposal (100-150 words) to the Organizing Committee following the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeVDJYUoWEuZ1_huPM5aP1kO5es9vVv...

Contact person: Elena Sychenko Elena.sychenko@unibo.it

Conference venue:
Law Faculty, Via Giuseppe Verdi, 53, 38122 Trento