The "hardening" of legal norms on business and human rights continued their long-term accretion in 2021, through judicial, legislative and administrative enforcement. Dutch courts ordered Shell to take far-reaching environmental actions company-wide, and positive action in an individual case. Three European nations passed laws requiring all companies above a certain size to carry out human rights due diligence, as the EU considered similar legislation.

In the UK, jurisprudence on the liability of parent companies in tort for alleged human rights and environmental harms was consolidated and extended to encompass harms occurring in a company's value chain.

In Latin America, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights made the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights legally binding. In the United States, even conservatives on the Supreme Court disclaimed corporate immunity for torts in violation of international law. U.S. government agencies imposed sanctions, and new U.S. legislation authorized additional sanctions on Chinese companies whose products are allegedly made with forced labor in Xinjiang. Finally, authoritative proposals to strengthen business reporting on human rights impacts were made in Europe and globally.