COVID-19 economic recovery must be based on intl. standards for responsible business conduct & due diligence, says ECCJ
"From impossible to inevitable: corporate justice in times of COVID-19", 14 April 2020
The COVID-19 crisis has laid bare the dire need for better regulating economic globalization to protect human rights and the environment and to strengthen the sustainability of global value chains...
A truly robust and sustainable economic recovery must be based on internationally agreed standards for responsible business conduct and human rights and environmental due diligence...
1) Unsustainable global business conduct has been linked to the outbreak of pandemics... 2) EU economies are suffering the consequences of unregulated global value chains... 3) Disregard for global value chains has put vulnerable workers at extreme health and financial risk... 4) The lack of corporate accountability has put the rights to food, water and health of EU citizens at risk...
Based on the above, we can conclude that ...
a) MHRDD [mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence] can help prevent against future pandemics by tackling their environment-related causes, and better react to them by detecting and responding to the many human rights challenges in a crisis situation...
b) Access to effective remedy, including judicial remedy, must be ensured for victims of corporate abuse in global value chains...
c) Conditions, including mHRDD, must be attached to make sure that businesses rescued with public money transition towards an economic model more respectful of human rights and the environment...