EU must Include Land Rights in New Law on Corporate Due Diligence, Calls Open Letter

Brussels, 12 October 2023

Currently in the final stage of negotiations, the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) is a chance for the EU to uphold its international obligations and have a positive impact on people and nature.

An open letter to EU policymakers warns that while the upcoming Directive aims to halt the adverse impacts of business on human rights and the environment, inside and outside Europe, it will not achieve this in its current state.

The letter was drafted and signed by organisations that represent indigenous and tribal peoples, and communities who share an experience of collective ownership, management and use of lands, territories and natural resources. It is also endorsed by human rights and environmental organisations who support the recommendations promoted by these groups. The letter calls on the EU to include rights to self-determination, to lands, territories and resource, and to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) in the upcoming legislation.

These points are critical for the success of the Directive, says Alexis Tiouka, an indigenous lawyer and specialist in the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples in French Guiana in an op-ed recently published in Le Monde:

 

“Member States want to remove (from the text) the concept of land rights and the reference to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).”

 

In the op-ed, Tiouka denounces this attempt of the Council of the EU to remove the land rights of indigenous peoples, as well as the UNDRIP reference from the text of the Directive and warns that removing these provisions would prevent indigenous and tribal peoples from seeking justice under the Directive.

France is among the Member States which could play a key role in influencing the decision of others in the Council of whether to include these rights or to leave them out. The country has a long history of refusing to recognise the collective rights of indigenous and tribal peoples in its own laws - rights that the government considers in contradiction with the French Constitution, which is an argument that has been challenged by France’s own national human rights institution and denounced by the United Nations. Unless France openly supports indigenous peoples’ rights, the Council is unlikely to agree to their inclusion in the Directive.

The importance of the EU strengthening the CSDDD’s provisions on indigenous and tribal peoples is even higher in the context of the recently adopted EU Regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR), which largely excluded requirements for companies to respect internationally recognised rights of indigenous and tribal peoples under the presumption that these will be included in the Directive.

Now that the Directive is underway, the EU is on a dangerous path of excluding indigenous tribal peoples once again.

It also risks failing to protect the rights of other groups who regularly fall victim of corporate abuse, such as communities with customary tenure systems. 

 

“Adopting a human rights and environmental due diligence legislation that does not seek to address human rights violations perpetrated against our peoples and communities would exclude countless people from being able to seek justice for the constant violence inflicted upon us by corporate actors worldwide,” states the open letter sent to EU policymakers.

 

The Directive is currently in its final stages of negotiations and policymakers in the European Parliament, the Council, and the European Commission have an opportunity to change course and make a positive impact for people and forests by upholding the EU’s own human rights commitments and its international obligations in the Directive.

For generations, indigenous and tribal peoples and communities with customary tenure systems have diligently taken care of the world’s forests, and studies evidence that nature is declining less rapidly in their lands. [1] However, they are increasingly being threatened by corporate actors and the expanding frontiers of global commodity production, driven by international trade and consumption. If companies want sustainable value chains, they must undertake mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence, and the EU has a duty to level the playing field.

At a high-level impact event co-hosted by MEPs Delara Burkhardt (S&D) and Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA) on Wednesday, October 11th, in Brussels, EU policymakers had the chance to hear the direct testimony of Tumursukh Jal, a forest guardian from Mongolia, in a premiere screening of one episode from a documentary series called ‘Our Forests’. In this documentary series, indigenous leaders speak from their territories, sharing indigenous-led solutions and highlighting the urgent need to protect the world’s forests. They are among the signatories of the letter, which was announced at the same event and which includes a list of recommendations to the EU to put people and planet first in the CSDDD. The letter is being sent out to EU policymakers on October 12th, and it will remain open for signatures after this date.

Ends.

[1] IPBES (2019): Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. E. S. Brondizio, J. Settele, S. Díaz, and H. T. Ngo (editors). IPBES secretariat, Bonn, Germany. 1148 pages. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3831673

Further Information:

About the CSDDD Negotiations

Trilogue negotiations are currently ongoing between the European Parliament, the Council of the EU and the European Commission. The European Commission adopted in February 2022 a proposal for the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which serves as a base text for the legislative process. In November 2022, the Council adopted its general approach, composed of amendments to the text that they will push to include in the final text, including amendments to remove provisions on the right to lands and resources of indigenous peoples and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples. In June 2023, the European Parliament adopted its report on the file, with their own amendments that they want to see included in the final text, including notable improvements such as the right to self-determination and the right to Free, Prior and Informed Consent. EU institutions are now negotiating to reach a compromise based on their respective positions and a final agreement can be expected to be reached in the coming months.

About ‘Our Forests’

Produced by LatoSensu docuseries "Our Forests" will be streaming in December 2023 on ARTE platforms. This five-part series introduces us with stunning scenery and personable charm to five charismatic leaders across Brazil, Canada, Gabon, Mongolia and Papua New Guinea who are leading local initiatives and programmes and advocating internationally to protect the world's five major forests - a connected ecosystem that is essential to all of our future survival.

At the “Our Forests, Our Responsibility” high-level impact event, organised by Think-Film Impact Production at the European Parliament on October 11th, there was a premiere screening of one episode from the docuseries.

Contacts for more information:

Antoine Gibert, Forest Peoples Programme

antoine@forestpeoples.org

Ugnė Pilkionytė, Think-Film Impact Production

ugne.pilkionyte@tfip.org