Business and human rights continued its sprint around the globe in 2023. Between mandatory human rights due diligence laws that were debated and adopted, modern slavery acts proposed, enacted and evaluated, foundational standards reconsidered, and an avalanche of regulatory enforcement and civil actions in a bevy of jurisdictions, corporate responsibilities to respect human rights are expanding and becoming more deeply entrenched. That makes it, of course, easier to identify business and human rights issues and trends to watch in 2024, and harder to limit them to just 10; while as in years past we include a bonus topic, those left on the cutting room floor could create an impressive list on their own. Nonetheless, and even more so than in 2021, 2022, or 2023, in the spirit of Human Rights Day, which in 2023 marks the 75^th anniversary of the date the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we will be bold and venturesome. Some of our topics are cyclical, others just emerging, and a few persisting. But here are our top 10 + 1, in no particular order.

1. Global Elections

2024 is the biggest election year in history. According to Bloomberg, voters in countries representing 41% of the world's population and 42% of its gross domestic product go to the polls in 2024, including in the U.S., India, Indonesia, Venezuela, South Africa, Mexico and Pakistan and about 35 countries. On a policy level, elections can bring a variety of human rights changes that can impact businesses positively and negatively. Indeed, we featured anti-ESG efforts in last year's top 10 list, and even non-election year 2023 saw 37 U.S. states consider 165 anti-ESG bills and a raft of politically motivated lawsuits and regulatory actions, which will increase exponentially amidst an election environment. In many places, elections also have brought human rights violations, whether through denying internet and media access, chilling freedom of expression, arresting opponents, suppressing votes, or post-election violence. Indeed, as a prologue, this year saw violent election-related clashes in Liberia, Sierra Leone, the Philippines, and 28 deaths in Nigeria, along with 30 reported assassinations/ attempted assassinations. In a recent poll in the U.S., about 25% of those surveyed said they believe "American patriots may have to resort to violence to save the country."