UK: CSOs call for mandatory human rights due diligence law to make multinationals accountable for abuses
We are civil society organisations... launching a new campaign calling for an effective law to require companies and investors to take action to prevent human rights abuses, worker exploitation and environmental harm in their global operations, activities, products, services, investments and supply chains.
We want to ensure that British companies and financial institutions meet their responsibility to respect rights everywhere in the world... [T]oo many... are linked to serious abuses: exploitative working conditions, including modern slavery and child labour; toxic pollution; rampant destruction of rainforests; land-grabs and evictions of indigenous peoples and local communities; and violent attacks on human rights defenders. The people who suffer are often the most vulnerable and marginalised...
We want companies to be required to carry out human rights and environmental due diligence... to identify, assess and mitigate the risks to all human rights and the environment posed by their activities... If the company fails to act and abuses go unchecked, it could be held to account in court...