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2 Jun 2020

Briefings & Reports

This section contains annual, biannual, quarterly and regional bulletins published by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

Unjust transition on trial: Communities and workers litigate to shape corporate practice

The speed of the energy transition will depend on investment flows and the retention of public trust. Yet the disturbing trend of systemic abuse of communities and workers in renewable energy value chains has given rise to a tide of strategic litigation by communities and workers left with no option but to turn to the courts to defend their rights. These lawsuits result in project delays, “stop orders” and escalating costs - risks which companies and investors can and must avoid through robust human rights due diligence and better project design.

Highlighted Releases

Just for show: Worker representation in Asia’s garment sector & the role of fashion brands & employers

We examine the role of trade unions and alternative representative structures across six major garment-producing countries in South and Southeast Asia, exploring how brands and their suppliers are relying on ineffective representation structures as an alternative to union engagement, undermining freedom of association and collective bargaining, depleting trade unions’ ability to build their membership and contributing to a vicious cycle of poor working conditions in the sector.

People power under pressure: Human rights defenders & business in 2023

Effective engagement and collaboration between civil society and investors is crucial in the fight for digital rights and corporate accountability. Lessons from the experiences of activists, civil society organisations and tech investors.

Transition Minerals Tracker: 2024 Global Analysis

Our annual analysis highlights the urgent need for a just energy transition based on three core principles: shared prosperity; robust human rights due diligence and worker, community and defender rights protections; and fair negotiation between business, workers and communities.

2023 KnowTheChain Apparel & Footwear Benchmark

KnowTheChain's latest assessment of 65 of the biggest apparel and footwear companies' efforts to address supply chain forced labour reveals companies remained largely reactive to human rights violations rather than evidencing robust, embedded human rights and environmental due diligence practices designed to prevent abuse.

Switched off: Tech company opacity & Israel’s war on Gaza

We invited 104 technology companies operating in or providing services to the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel to respond to a survey on transparency and heightened human rights due diligence in the context of Israel's war on Gaza.

Myanmar Garment Worker Allegations Tracker: Three years of military rule

1 February 2024 marks three years since the military takeover of Myanmar. Since then, we've recorded hundreds of attacks on garment workers’ human rights both in their workplaces and on the streets. We examine allegations of abuse tracked over the past year and responses from international buyers alongside testimony from workers.

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176 results

  • briefing

    Forced labour risks, remedy and changing regulation: KnowTheChain investor briefing

    13 Sep 2022

    The risk of forced labour in global supply chains remains one of the most significant human rights issues for companies – and their investors – worldwide. Despite this, KnowTheChain data indicates major companies in high-risk sectors like apparel and footwear, ICT, and food and beverage are failing to identify risks and remediate forced labour in their supply chains. We set out recommendations for investors to play a critical role in interrogating human rights due diligence efforts and companies’ attempts to remediate forced labour.

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    Buffering rights: How Europe's new due diligence regulation can help reverse tech rights risks

    3 Aug 2022

    Europe’s welcome draft Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive has enormous potential to insist the tech sector transforms itself to end abuse, and contributes to shared prosperity and effective democracy. We look at the key areas in need of improvement to strengthen the draft Directive and shape a rights-respecting tech sector.

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    Resistance, harassment and intimidation: Garment worker abuse under Myanmar's military rule

    26 Jul 2022

    Since Myanmar's military illegally seized power in 2021, garment workers have been on the front line of the Civil Disobedience Movement, risking their lives and livelihoods to demand an end to the dictatorship and to restore democracy. This briefing looks at over 100 cases of alleged labour and human rights abuse against garment workers at Myanmar factories producing for at least 32 major global brands and retailers.

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    Wake-up call: Exploitative recruitment risk to migrant workers in Qatar's World Cup hotels

    13 Jul 2022

    We asked 30 hotel brands representing over 115 hotel properties in Qatar to respond to questions about their operations, human rights due diligence and recruitment practices. The research revealed luxury hotel brands in Qatar are not doing enough to end abusive recruitment practices which have left migrant workers struggling under the pressure of debt and low wages ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

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  • briefing

    Business and human rights litigation in Latin America: Lessons from practice

    12 Jul 2022

    Strategic litigation has become a crucial tool to hold business accountable for human rights abuse—but those who seek justice face significant obstacles. We take a closer look at strategic litigation in Latin America, analysing trends from our lawsuit database and bringing together perspectives and resources to develop a strategic litigation toolbox.

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    Drying up: Tracking the environmental and human rights harms caused by hydropower in the Caucasus and Central Asia

    6 Jul 2022

    As the climate crisis urges a shift to more sustainable resources to meet growing energy needs in Central Asia and the Caucasus, a fast and fair transition to wind, solar and hydropower is essential. But our research on allegations of abuse in Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan reveals unnecessary harm linked to the hydropower industry which calls for a transformation of approach by investors and lenders in the region, as well as companies.

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    Fast and fair renewable energy for Africa: Lessons from Kenya

    14 Jun 2022

    As the energy transition gathers pace in Africa, we look at case studies from Kenya which highlight the opportunities of embracing green energy for businesses, states and local communities – and the abuse, delays and project suspensions companies and investors risk when they fail to address human rights.

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    Business and human rights defenders in Colombia: Urgent protection needed for people defending land, territory and environment

    9 Jun 2022

    Decades of internal armed conflict, violence related to organised crime, and dominance of land-intensive and extractive industries have created a climate of systemic intimidation of social leaders, unionists and activists in Colombia. Our latest analysis examines attacks against human rights defenders raising concerns about business-related abuse in 2020-2021, identifies drivers of attacks and proposes steps for companies, investors and the Colombian Government to ensure defenders are protected.

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    Russian invasion of Ukraine: Analysis of companies' human rights due diligence

    24 May 2022

    Businesses operating in conflict zones are not neutral actors, even when they do not take sides – heightened human rights due diligence with a conflict-sensitive approach is imperative. We asked 330 companies active in Ukraine and/or Russia about due diligence. The findings indicate widespread business failure to address human rights risks.

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    Transition Minerals Tracker: Global analysis of human rights in the energy transition

    11 May 2022

    Extraction of cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel, and zinc—core components for renewable energy technology—is expected to rise dramatically with a global shift towards clean energy. Yet many of the companies producing these minerals are beset with allegations of human rights abuse. Read our latest analysis.

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