abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb

這頁面沒有繁體中文版本,現以English顯示

文章

2020年9月2日

作者:
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

News release: Big business makes joint call for legal duty of care for human rights and the environment

  • 26 companies, business associations, and initiatives have signed a joint statement calling for EU legislation which requires companies to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence
  • Companies such as Adidas, Unilever, Inditex, and Mars are among the signatories

London, United Kingdom – 26 companies, business associations, and initiatives have called for mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation at EU level in a joint statement released today. The group includes several large multinationals with a combined annual turnover of almost 350 billion EUR. Several signatories have already supported calls for mandatory due diligence at a national level through previous statements and ongoing campaigns. This is the first pan-European, international as well as cross-sectoral business statement to call for the legal duty of care.

The statement says:

'Mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation has already been introduced, or is under discussion, in a number of EU member states and other countries around the world and has gained substantive public support by businesses. Mandatory legislation can contribute to a competitive level-playing field, increase legal certainty about the standards expected from companies to respect human rights and the environment, clarify legal consequences for when responsibilities are not met, promote engagement and impactful actions between supply chain partners and, above all, trigger and incentivise impactful and effective actions on the ground. EU-wide cross-sectoral legislation, reflecting national developments and with clear accountability, should harmonise these expectations towards companies, ultimately enhancing outcomes for people and the planet.
We therefore welcome the European Union and its member states’ efforts to introduce new mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation, as an integral part of the move to build back a more resilient economy that works for all.’

The EU Commission committed to introduce legislation on mandatory due diligence for companies earlier this year and has just launched a formal “sustainable corporate governance” initiative with an Inception Impact Assessment mentioning possible legislation.

In its 2020 ICT Benchmark, KnowTheChain found Europe-based companies scored lower than their North American counterparts when it came to addressing forced labour risks in their supply chains, with top-scoring Asian and North American companies ranking higher the top-scoring European company.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Business Human Rights Resource Centre have been tracking the actions and commitments of 35 global fashion brands and the impact on workers in their global supply chains through several different evidence-based indicators and survey responses. Only 14 of the 26 European companies monitored have publicly committed to paying suppliers in full for completed and in-production orders - actions which determine whether their supply chain workers are paid.

At the same time, EU companies have been linked to human rights and environmental abuses worldwide including employing exploitative working conditions in electronics factories in Malaysia, on farms in Brazil, UK, and Sri Lanka, and in apparel and textile factories in Ethiopia and China.

The rise of mandatory human rights due diligence legislation in European countries, including France, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as in the EU could change this.

The Resource Centre’s Executive Director, Phil Bloomer said:

“This statement demonstrates welcome leadership from major European and international companies to make markets work for shared prosperity and climate security. This legislation will change the calculation of risk in board rooms regarding abuse of workers, harm to communities and pollution. With worsening inequality and climate breakdown upon us, it is urgent that reckless and irresponsible companies are made to reform and show a duty of care. This company statement will help embolden the European Commission, and the German Government’s European Presidency to move decisively forward.”

Over 100 civil society organisations and trade unions called on the EU last year to develop effective human rights and environmental due diligence legislation.

// ENDS

Media Contact:

Johannes Blankenbach, EU / Western Europe Researcher & Representative, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, blankenbach@business-humanrights.org (German & English speaker, Berlin-based), +49 (0)151 459 299 22

Communications Team, communications@business-humanrights.org (English & Spanish speakers, London-based)

時間線

隱私資訊

本網站使用 cookie 和其他網絡存儲技術。您可以在下方設置您的隱私選項。您所作的更改將立即生效。

有關我們使用網絡儲存技術的更多資訊,請參閱我們的 數據使用和 Cookie 政策

Strictly necessary storage

ON
OFF

Necessary storage enables core site functionality. This site cannot function without it, so it can only be disabled by changing settings in your browser.

分析cookie

ON
OFF

您瀏覽本網頁時我們將以Google Analytics收集信息。接受此cookie將有助我們理解您的瀏覽資訊,並協助我們改善呈現資訊的方法。所有分析資訊都以匿名方式收集,我們並不能用相關資訊得到您的個人信息。谷歌在所有主要瀏覽器中都提供退出Google Analytics的添加應用程式。

市場營銷cookies

ON
OFF

我們從第三方網站獲得企業責任資訊,當中包括社交媒體和搜尋引擎。這些cookie協助我們理解相關瀏覽數據。

您在此網站上的隱私選項

本網站使用 cookie 和其他網絡儲存技術來增強您在必要核心功能之外的體驗。