Department of Management, Society and Communication

Core expertise

My research and teaching focus on sustainability and responsible business conduct (RBC) with a particular emphasis on social issues, especially climate change mitigation, business responsibilities for human rights, and sustainable finance. Within these topics my research and expertise focus on, i.a.,

• risk-based and human rights due diligence and its elements, in particular meaningful stakeholder engagement and access to substantive remedy
• multi-stakeholder regulation and 'smart' regulation for sustainability;
• fair transitions/socially responsible climate change mitigation;
• non-financial reporting as a driver for organizational change for responsible business conduct;
• identifying SDG opportunities through insights from risk-based due diligence;
• institutional investors and responsible business conduct;
• legislative developments on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence
• the role of National Contact Points under OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
• RBC in an Arctic setting;
• Alternative conflict resolution and RBC

I approach these issues from the perspective of public governance and public-private regulation, analysing how public and private organisations do or can work together to address global concerns related to sustainable human development and how public-private collaboration add to and result from a transnationalisation of sustainability governance and diverse forms of soft and hard law and guidance as well as specific processes, in particular risk-based due diligence.

With a background in international and public law and a socio-legal leaning, I favour a pragmatic approach over a dogmatic approach to legal issues and apply methods and theories from the social sciences wide sense to understand normative developments and organizational integration.

Much of my research and teaching is inspired by a quest to deliver insights on theoretical and practical implementation perspectives for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the UN ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework, the Global Compact and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Research

As the project leader/Principle Investigator (PI) for international research networking projects funded by Nordic, Arctic, Danish and private grants I am cultivating research on social and human rights aspects of natural resource exploration and exploitation in a comparative Global South and Arctic perspective. This research currently focuses on fair transitions, sustainable finance to support socially responsible transitions from a fossil-based economy, and public participation with meaningful stakeholder engagement in decision-making concerning natural resources, renewable energy projects, transitions minerals etc. The projects involve colleagues and institutions from around the Globe, thereby enriching the research with knowledge, experience and partners from areas in the circum-polar High North to regions in the Global South, China as well as Europe and non-Arctic areas in the Nordic countries.

Some of my other current research concerns non-financial reporting as a driver for internal organizational change to equip companies to understand and respond to external stakeholders’ demands and expectations in regard to their societal impacts; potential for companies to identify and address SDG-needs of local relevance by drawing on impact assessment processes they undertake to identify potential risks that they may cause to society; and what is required of companies in regard to human rights due diligence.

Past research projects includes the communicative and strategic evolution of the Business & Human Rights (BHR) regime, and sustainable forestry in East and South East Asia between law and the market (both funded by the Independent Danish Research Council).

In my research and networking I benefit from my previous work experience as an associate attorney in a law firm and as a civil servant in the Danish public administration, working with immigration issues under the Ministry of Justice and with human rights in development under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Danida.

Outreach and Networks (selected)

• substitute member for public organisations of the Board of Ethical Trade Denmark
• member of the Board of the Danish Institute for Human Rights
• former member of the Danish National Contact Point (NCP) to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (2012 - 2022)
• member of the Human Rights and SDG working groups under the Danish Global Compact Network
• deputy CBS representative to the University of the Arctic (UArctic)
• co-founder and chair of The BHRights Initiative for global interdisciplinary research and teaching on Business & Human Rights (established in March 2014 in the context of an Explanatory Workshop funded by the European Research Foundation)
• co-founder and chair of the University of the UArctic Thematic Network on Arctic Sustainable Resources and Social Responsibility (TN ASRSR)
• co-founder and chair of a global research network on socially responsible transitions initiated at CBS in December 2018: GREEN-SORT - Global Research and Engagement Network for Socially Responsible Transitions

Recent blog posts:

• https://blog.cbs.dk/cbds/?p=307: Why consultations on large projects matter to citizens and companies
• https://blog.cbs.dk/cbds/?p=343: Normative foundations for stakeholder involvement in environmental and social impact assessment

Languages (teaching and supervision): Danish (mother tongue), English