World Benchmarking Alliance and Business Human Rights' statement on

The Japanese government published the revised Japan’s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP) on 24 December 2025. The World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) and the Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRC) welcome the publication of the revised NAP, and underscore the importance of transparent and meaningful engagement with civil society and affected stakeholders throughout its implementation. 

The revised NAP defines the Government’s approach to business and human rights across eight priority areas. We welcome the clearer emphasis on human rights due diligence and capacity-building for small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the call for companies to implement human rights due diligence, including the identification, assessment, prevention, mitigation, and remediation of adverse impacts.   

We are encouraged to see that several of the public comment submitted by WBA and BHRC during the consultation process, which resonated strongly with the perspectives of our allies and partners, have been incorporated into the final text, as evidenced by the Government’s publication of a response-to-comments document.