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This paper is intended for corporate lawyers who increasingly are being asked to advise their clients on business and human rights issues. It addresses the far-reaching implications of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (‘UNGPs’), which the UN Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed in 2011, following six years of multistakeholder consultations, research, and pilot projects. Their uptake has been broad and swift. They have become the global authoritative standard, providing a blueprint for the steps all States and businesses should take to uphold human rights.The paper explains why the UNGPs are profoundly different from voluntary initiatives and self-regulation, commonly placed under the umbrella term of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).