Dr. Elizabeth Umlas

Elizabeth Umlas, PhD, is an independent researcher and consultant with 20 years of experience in the field of business and human rights. Based in Switzerland, she divides her time between teaching(University of Fribourg, Oxford University) and undertaking consulting and research projects primarily for international organizations and not-for-profit entities. She has worked for many years in socially responsible investment (SRI), most recently advising global union federations on engaging institutional investors on workers’ fundamental rights. Dr. Umlas is a senior fellow at the Croatan Institute, an independent research institute that works at the intersection of sustainability, finance and economic development. She is also a co-founder of Sustainable Finance Geneva and an international advisory board member of the NGO, Media Matters for Women.

Courses Taught

  • Business & Human Rights

Publications

  • Umlas E. The OECD National Contact Point Mechanism. Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks. Published online May 18, 2023:204-218. doi:https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802201130.00026

  • Umlas E. Trap-Neuter-Return: A Study of the Practice in Switzerland. Derecho Animal Forum of Animal Law Studies. 2021;12(2):54-104. doi:https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/da.563

  • Umlas E. John Bradshaw. Cat Sense: The Feline Enigma Revealed – Allen Lane (London 2013) 336 p. Derecho Animal Forum of Animal Law Studies. 2019;10(2):235. doi:https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/da.437

  • Bauer J, Umlas E. Making Corporations Responsible: The Parallel Tracks of the B Corp Movement and the Business and Human Rights Movement. Business and Society Review. 2017;122(3):285-325. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/basr.12118

  • Umlas E. Protected but Exposed: Multinationals and Private Security. In: Small Arms Survey 2011: States of Security . Cambridge University Press; 2011.

  • Umlas E. The Global Expansion of SRI: Facing Challenges, Meeting Potential. Development and Change. 2008;39(6):1019-1036. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2008.00527.x

  • Umlas E. Environmental Networking in Mexico: The Comité Nacional Para la Defensa de los Chimalapas. Latin American Research Review. 1998;33(3):161-189. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/s0023879100038450