EC must ensure strong regulation of companies and finance industry to uphold human rights and protect the environment

Open letter from Indigenous peoples’ organisations, human rights defenders and allies

On the 31st March 2021, more than 30 organisations signed an open letter to the European Commission urging the EU to take steps to adequately protect their human rights in two current legislative processes underway in the EU. The signatories included organisations representing indigenous peoples, forest communities and human rights defenders and allied organisations, from Africa, Asia and South and Central America.

The two processes i) proposed regulation on forest-risk commodities and ii) proposed directive on sustainable corporate governance seek to promote sustainable global supply chains and responsible corporate conduct, including through imposing an obligation on companies to conduct due diligence on their supply chains.

The letter describes the connection between encroachments on the lands, homes and environment of indigenous and forests communities and the EU market, businesses and financial institutions which these proposals must address.

The signatories call on the EC to ensure that upcoming legislative measures are effective, coherent and complementary, and most importantly, that they require companies to uphold the internationally-recognised human rights of indigenous peoples, forest communities and human rights defenders, in line with the EU’s own commitments.

Amongst other recommendations, the letter emphasises that human rights and the environment must be addressed jointly, that affected peoples and communities must be consulted on the steps to be taken when human rights or environmental concerns are identified, that due diligence must be subject to independent verification, and that legislative proposals must provide accountability and access to remedy for victims.

FPP expresses support for the letter and solidarity with the signatories, and calls on DG Environment and DG Justice – the two departments leading on the deforestation and sustainable governance initiatives respectively – to increase direct engagement with rightsholders in both of these processes, which has been insufficient to date.

Read more:

• Open letter to the EC dated 31 March in English
• The letter is also available in Spanish, here
• You can also read the letter in French, here