Landesa submission
The U.K. Government’s revision to the National Action Plan (NAP) offers an opportunity to ensure that investors are appropriately encouraged and supported to address human rights issues in their operations. The first version of the NAP identified a number of priority areas for consideration. Importantly, the earlier draft flagged land as a critical area for companies to consider when investing and pointed to the FAO’s Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure, Forests, and Fisheries (VGGT) as key guidance. The update of this NAP holds potential for continuing to build on international attention and processes to develop guidance for corporate and government actors’ land activities. The comments below provide suggestions for improving the U.K. NAP to create guidance and actionable commitments to ensure that investors protect and respect land rights in their operations abroad.