09 December 2025 – Last week, I attended the Human Rights Watch “Voices for Justice” dinner in Geneva—a gathering of business, technology, and philanthropy leaders supporting human rights defenders working in some of the world’s most challenging environments. The event is always a reminder of the courage on the front lines and the global interconnections behind every struggle for justice.
This year also marked a transition: we bid farewell to our friend Neil Rimer, the Swiss-Canadian venture capitalist and co-founder of Index Ventures, who spent 16 years supporting Human Rights Watch and served six years as Co-Chair of its global board. Some may wonder why the co-founder of Europe’s largest venture capital firm—an early backer of fintech and AI leaders like Revolut, Figma, and DeepL—would align himself so publicly with a human rights organisation.
The answer is simple: Neil understands that an innovation economy—and any hope of regeneration—depends on rights. Long before “ecosystems” became a business cliché, the Club of Rome warned that complex systems fail not only through sudden shocks but through the slow erosion of foundational conditions. Innovation economies are no different: they are dynamic, interconnected systems whose tipping points are often invisible until they are breached.
In practical terms, rights provide the conditions innovation needs to thrive. The rule of law and enforceable contracts give investors confidence. Freedom of expression and access to information allow researchers to question assumptions. Privacy and data protection build trust in digital markets. Property and intellectual property rights ensure risk-takers can benefit from their work. Non-discrimination and due process let talent compete on merit.
Remove even one of these pillars and the system begins to sway; remove several, and it destabilises rapidly. Ideas go unprotected, incentives disappear, capital retreats, and talent leaves. Rights are not a moral accessory—they are the invisible infrastructure that keeps the system coherent and generative, allowing innovators to take risks, build companies, and drive renewal.
This year’s HRW dinner also coincided with the 75th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Seventy-five years ago, a war-ravaged continent enshrined binding guarantees of dignity, justice, and freedom for all. Speakers from Latin America, the Middle East, and the Pacific highlighted how often European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) jurisprudence guides their work. The Convention remains one of the world’s most influential rights frameworks—but its legacy is now contested.
In the UK, both the Conservative and Reform parties are running campaigns that include pledges to withdraw from the Convention, a move that could have serious systemic consequences—including for the innovation economy—from complicating data transfers and trade agreements to weakening Europe’s credibility in global AI governance.
The ECHR’s anniversary highlights a broader question: what is the future of organisations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International in a world where universality— the foundation of human rights—can no longer be taken for granted.
The recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion on climate change, secured with substantial HRW advocacy, underscores what frontline communities have long argued: climate obligations are inseparable from human rights—from life and health to family, livelihood, and the rights of women, children, and Indigenous peoples.
This breakthrough stands on decades of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) jurisprudence, which built the intellectual bridge between environmental protection and human well-being—from Öneryıldız v. Turkey (2004), establishing states’ obligations to prevent environmental hazards, to Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz v. Switzerland (2024), recognising inadequate climate policy as a violation of rights.
What becomes of the human rights system if founding states like the UK contemplate withdrawal? If NGOs face rising hostility, who holds those in power accountable? If courts are weakened, where do vulnerable communities seek justice?
As states retreat, businesses and their leaders cannot rely on NGOs alone to defend rights. Yet the Human Rights Watch dinner made one thing clear—there is still immense energy and purpose in this movement, and it remains vibrant. To thrive, it must evolve—recognising new field realities, adopting pluralistic approaches, and forging broader alliances. Innovators, technologists, and investors—those shaping the digital, climate, and scientific frontiers—have a critical role to play.
Neil Rimer understood, long before most, that supporting rights defenders is not an act of philanthropy, but one of purpose—an investment in the conditions that allow bold ideas to take root and breakthroughs to become possible.
