Several NGOs have issued a joint statement calling on the countries of the G7 to commit to protecting human rights and environmental standards throughout the global supply chain. At last year’s G7 Summit, in Schloss Elmau, Germany, the G7 made commitments to ensure “responsible supply chains”, and to uphold the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Despite these commitments, and despite previous calls by civil society, this issue has not been included in the agenda for this year’s G7 Summit, which will be chaired by Japan and which will take place at Ise-shima, Japan, in May 2016.

The Civil G7 Summit took place at Kyoto, Japan on 22 and 23 March 2016, where the NGOs who agreed to this joint statement presented their concerns to the “Sherpas”, the representatives of the heads of government of the G7 countries. These NGOs invite all concerned organizations to use the statement it in their advocacy. As of 15 April, 60 organisations signed on to the statement.