... Negotiations for a legally binding instrument to regulate corporations started last week in Geneva. The lack of engagement of delegations from the EU and the UK is a slap in the face of affected communities. The informal text proposal, put forward by the chairmanship, is an affront to those who have been active in the process during the last 8 years...

The 8th session opened with a turbulent and confused atmosphere. The Ecuadorian Presidency, in charge of leading the process, had sent a new text proposal only two weeks before the negotiations began. In both form and substance, the introduction of this document was not carried out in an agreed and transparent manner, and its provisions also undermine the demands of communities affected by transnational corporations and other businesses...

At the previous session in 2021, the Ecuadorian Chair of the Working Group suggested the creation of a “Friends of the Chair” group to help find consensus on the text. However, the last-minute formation of this group, the unclarity of its mandate, together with an imbalance of regional membership have prevented this group from being effective...

The EU must  formally and ambitiously enter the negotiations, especially now that an EU Directive proposal on corporate sustainability due diligence  is being negotiated. The two instruments are complementary, as shown by a recent study...