CSOs join forces to call for a robust EU mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation

23 Jun 2020

A network of NGOs working on corporate accountability, including Forest Peoples Programme, today published an open letter to European Commission DG Justice Commissioner Reynders in response to his recent commitment to propose legislation in 2021 on both corporate due diligence and directors’ duties as part of an initiative on sustainable corporate governance. The letter is also endorsed by indigenous peoples’ organisations from tropical forest countries. In warmly welcoming this step by the Commission, the letter stating calls on the EU to build a robust legal framework including:

New horizontal legislation on mandatory human rights and environmental corporate due diligence where strong EU rules would help ensure robust, resilient and sustainable value chains and investments by requiring that all companies in all sectors, including finance, address the environmental, social and governance risks they cause, contribute or are directly linked to.

By creating an explicit legal obligation on business and investment bodies to comply with their responsibility to respect and protect human rights and the environment, with adequate enforcement and sanctions frameworks, such a new regulation has potential to ensure that European businesses and investors will not violate or be complicit in violating the rights of indigenous peoples and communities. This should include a corporate duty to respect indigenous peoples’ rights to land, self-determination and free, prior and informed consent. Among other elements needed, an effective new regulation should also ensure that indigenous peoples and local communities in third countries affected by European business investments and supply chains have access to effective grievance and remedy procedures – including direct access to remedy in European courts – to ensure corporate accountability.

Read the open letter here.