Resources

The Commercial Organisations and Public Authorities Duty (Human Rights and Environment) Bill sets out some core building blocks for a fit-for-purpose corporate accountability law in the UK.  

On 10 May, the House of Lords will debate The Commercial Organisations and Public Authorities Duty (Human Rights and Environment) Bill (COPAD Bill).

Indigenous leaders from Africa and South America have spoken to members of the UK parliament about the need to prioritise the rights of indigenous peoples in UK legislative proposals on sustainable commodity supply chains, and to ensure that British laws hold UK companies and financiers accountable to affec

In this new briefing, NGOs highlight that implementing a comprehensive set of measures and initiatives, including new legislation, is essential to reduce the EU’s footprint on the world’s natural ecosystems.

The long-awaited European Commission Communication on deforestation opens the door for regulation of EU commodity supply chains, in order to protect and restore the world’s forests. On the downside, the Communication lacks the ambition and additional actionable commitments required to tackle the global forest and climate crisis. We share our views.

Inputs to the Public Consultation on ‘Deforestation and Forest Degradation – Stepping up EU Action’

Together with partners from Indonesia, Malaysia, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Netherlands, FPP filed a joint submission to the French Government on its draft National Strategy to Combat Imported Deforestation (Strategie Nationale de Lutte Contre la Deforestation Importee – "SNDI").

After taking part in meetings with the Amsterdam Declarations Partnership and DG Trade to present rights-based solutions for achieving deforestation-free trade, the 'Closing the Gap' delegation are travelling to Brussels to deliver a petition signed by 160,000 people urging EC President Jean-Claude Juncker to uphold the European Union’s international commitment to halt deforestation by 2020 by supporting an EU Action Plan to protect forests and respect forest peoples’ rights.

A recent Position paper by the German Institute for Human Rights argues that the newly developed standards of the multilateral Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and of the World Bank fall short in many respects of the human rights commitments that the Federal Government has imposed on itself. If Germany wishes to achieve the objectives it has set for itself, it will have to conduct its own human rights assessment of projects, and close monitoring of project implementation will be equally necessary.

The launch of a long-awaited new British fund for tackling deforestation drivers in forest nations is still on hold as UK government agencies continue to finalise the business case for the initiative. Meanwhile, UK NGOs have continued to press the government to ensure transparency in the governance structure for the fund, which is to be geared towards supporting tropical countries to combat deforestation and curb land use emissions. 

Dear Friends,The principle that the enjoyment of human rights is both the means and the goal of development, highlights the importance of human rights monitoring as a means for empowering rights-holders to exercise their rights, whilst holding States and other actors accountable for their human rights obligations.   

"GENEVA (07 August 2013) –States need to do more to honour and strengthen their treaties with indigenous peoples, no matter how long ago they were signed, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay has said in a statement to mark International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on 9 August.“Even when signed or otherwise agreed more than a century ago, many treaties remain the cornerstone for the protection of the identity, land and customs of indigenous peoples, determining the relationship they have with the State. They are thus of major significance to human rights today,” she said.

Dear Friends,Whenever someone remarks that a solution is being frustrated by ‘lack of political will’, I automatically ask myself: whose is the political will and what are the interests pushing for the opposite? 

Sophie Chao, FPP, has written the following article for OurWorld 2.0, the United Nations University's web magazine.To read the article on the OurWorld 2.0 website please click here.Seeing the people for the trees

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