859 results
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Post Latin America and the Caribbean: New standards on the horizon to protect human rights defenders fighting harmful business practices
From fighting deforestation and illegal mining in the Amazon to raising concerns about the impacts of megaprojects and the climate crisis, Indigenous peoples, community leaders, environmental defenders, peasants and workers play a pivotal role in protecting their rights, territories, natural resources and the environment across Latin America and the Caribbean. All this, while experiencing a frequently hostile environment, and where challenging corporate power might prove extremely dangerous or even deadly. Despite these hazardous circumstances, the Inter-American Human Rights system is demonstrating real leadership in key areas of law and policy to protect human rights defenders.
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Series Due Diligence Directive: Europe’s vision comes under attack from within
For the last four years, the EU Commission, Parliament, and Council of member states have carefully negotiated new ground-breaking legislation to ensure markets deliver broader wealth sharing, climate security, and respect for human rights in corporate value chains. All efforts must focus on rebuilding EU-wide consensus after last week's failure by member states to endorse the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, argues Phil Bloomer, Executive Director of the BHRRC.
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Series Law of unintended consequences: Rejection of the EU Due Diligence Directive will bring back Dutch Child Labour Act, driving legal fragmentation
If the CSDDD is not adopted in the final vote, there are wider implications: without a unifying directive, companies will face varying standards and expectations as important domestic legislative processes will develop - and resume - across the economic bloc. One such example is the Child Labour Due Diligence Act in the Netherlands, as David Ollivier de Leth, MVO Platform, & Joseph Wilde-Ramsing, SOMO explain.
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Series Two years of Russian aggression: Decisive action by Western states urgently needed to ensure responsible business conduct
It’s been almost two years since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, yet many companies continue to play a critical role in enabling the aggression that brings endless human suffering. While the US, the EU and other Western countries have imposed unprecedented sanctions, more needs to be done, including further guidelines and enforcement mechanisms.
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Post In focus: Tech sector transparency & the Global South
Our monitoring of tech companies' human rights policies and practice reveals poor transparency underpinning a litany of abuse linked to the sector, particularly in the Global South. Danny Rayman explains the key issues as we update our company dashboards to cover 120+ tech firms.
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Post COP28 Breakdown: Striving for a just transition amid human rights hurdles
COP28 delivered some highly caveated progress in the race against climate change – but the required scope and speed of the deployment of renewable energy assets comes with its own set of human rights challenges.
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Post Accountability in conflict: The problem of tech company opacity
The siege and corralling of Palestinian civilians, and massive loss of civilian life, alongside the destruction of homes and essential infrastructure has led South Africa to accuse Israel of genocide before the International Court of Justice, which Israel refutes. But while the Court considers the case, momentum is also growing around demands for accountability from other actors - including the companies and investors associated with the conflict. Phil Bloomer asks what heightened due diligence efforts have been undertaken?
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Post From baby steps to bold action: Challenging the current economic model to ensure a just energy transition
Achieving a just energy transition involves more than technological advancements - it necessitates a fundamental re-evaluation of the economic model which got us into the climate crisis in the first place and which continues to drive the current corporate-led energy transition, argues Joseph Wilde-Ramsing of SOMO.
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Post 2024: the year of elections, conflict – and business transformation?
Will our next governments sustain a business-as-usual approach that helps drive accelerated climate breakdown, a fifth mass extinction, and unsustainable levels of inequality that threaten the fabric of our democracies? Or can our movements, collectively, help present ‘just economy manifestos’ to all politicians to highlight urgent opportunities that arise from emergent better practice, asks Phil Bloomer, BHRRC.
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Post Business, human rights & development: A case for course correction in 2024 & beyond
UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development Surya Deva argues a transformative shift is needed to address systemic problems: a shift in our lifestyle, business models, development narrative, economic order, role of states, and governance structures, in order to achieve real progress for human rights in business.
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