Several Catholic Church leaders signed the Bishops’ Statement: “Now more than ever, we need mandatory supply chain due diligence to stop corporate abuse and guarantee global solidarity”. The statement published today demands States to urgently stop ongoing corporate abuse by introducing binding legislation to regulate their activities and make them accountable by law. According to the Bishops, our economies should follow values of dignity and justice, and be respectful of the rights of the people and of the environment. Corporate abuse is widespread and the Covid-19 crisis has exacerbated the situation especially for the most vulnerable communities who were lacking social protection...

The Bishops argue that in the face of failed voluntarism, mandatory legislation to regulate transnational corporations is the only legislative option to protect communities...

EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders took a step in the right direction... Welcoming such developments, the statement also calls State leaders to advance on binding legislation at the UN level through engagement in the current process for a UN Treaty on Human Rights and business activities...

The Bishops statement will remain open to collect even more signatures, especially in the run up to the next round of negotiations of a Legally Binding Instrument on Business and Human Rights...