"Stand for Global and Climate Justice: Priorities for the 33rd Dáil Eireann", 15 June 2020

Trócaire is urging the Irish Government and Irish political representatives to:

1. Urgently champion the Paris Agreement, avert climate catastrophe 

Specifically, one of the very first legislative priorities must be enactment of an amendment to the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, to enshrine a target of net zero emissions by as early a date as possible, and introduce legally-binding five-year national carbon budgets to get us there.  Immediately join the group of EU Member States that are calling for an increase in the EU’s 2030 climate targets, to at least 55%, aiming for 65%, in line with the latest findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and deliver an 8% a year annual reduction in emissions in the lifetime of the next Government.  Trócaire also supports and is seeking endorsement of the ‘Fossil Free Election Pledge’ for Irish political representatives, and the ‘Faster and Fairer Climate Action: One Planet, One Climate, One Future’ campaign

1. Hold Corporations to Account for Land and Human Rights Violations 

Specifically, work to ensure that Ireland supports the UN legally binding Treaty on business and human rights to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises, and also work to ensure mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation is enacted in Ireland...

...Trócaire is leading a campaign on business and human rights in response to widespread reports of corporate human rights abuses in the communities in which we work, including the displacement of communities, violent evictions, pollution of land and destruction of livelihoods, with a disproportionate impact on women and indigenous communities...

...Despite the adverse human rights impacts that corporations can have in communities, there is a major gap in the regulation of corporate activities by states and in access to remedy for victims of human rights violations. Without legally binding mechanisms to protect the rights of people impacted by the actions of transnational corporations and other business enterprises, millions of people are at risk of human rights violations with little or no recourse to justice. Stronger regulation is needed both nationally and internationally to provide a legal framework to ensure corporations do not violate human rights in their operations.

Trócaire calls on the Irish government and Irish political representatives to work to advance the following:  Ireland adopts mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation to ensure businesses respect human rights across their activities and value chain and to establish a corporate duty to respect human rights.  EU mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation.  Ireland supports and contributes to the development of a UN binding treaty on business and human rights to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises, which will complement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights...