Investors call for "robust" UK mandatory due diligence law
Statement comes as polling shows 4/5 Britons want a new supply chain law to stop environmental destruction, exploitation, and human rights abuses
They join top companies and NGOs in favouring a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act
Law would oblige business to prevent the violations that lead to attacks on human rights defenders
39 investors representing £3.9 trillion have expressed their support for a Business, Human Rights & Environment Act with liability provisions for companies failing to prevent harm. The law would mandate all businesses to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence, preventing the kinds of destruction and abuses that human rights defenders end up having to denounce, oppose and protest. An effective law would mean corporations could be held to account for backing ventures that lead to attacks on the indigenous leaders, activists and journalists that Peace Brigades International (PBI) works to protect.
The call from investors came as a new YouGov poll showed that four in five Britons want a law to eradicate environmental damage and exploitative practices in supply chains. Brand-name companies and civil society organisations have already positioned themselves in favour of mandatory due diligence legislation.
"We now know unequivocally that companies, investors, consumers and campaigners are united in their support for a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act”, said PBI UK Director Ben Leather.
“The Government should now begin negotiations with stakeholders, including those human rights defenders standing up to corporate abuses, to work towards a draft that responds to realities on the ground".
The investors - who included Jupiter, Ethos, BMO and Legal & General Asset Management - urged policymakers to develop a law covering '“the operations and value chains of all business enterprises and financial institutions, public and private, domiciled or based in, operating or offering a product or service within the UK”. They called for the proposed legislation to include appropriate provisions to hold companies liable if they fail to prevent human rights or environmental harms.
More than a third of the human rights defenders who PBI supports are standing up to destructive business projects - taking a stand against human rights and environmental impacts that could have been avoided in the first place, had companies and investors carried out proper due diligence. When these activists speak out they face threats, attacks and imprisonment. Globally, more than four land rights and environmental activists are murdered every week, suffering the sharpest end of what happens when business fails to act responsibly and enforceable regulation is lacking.
“Sadly, the threats facing land and environmental defenders show that some businesses can't be trusted to prevent and mitigate human rights abuses in their operations and supply chains”, said Ben Leather.
“A Business, Human Rights and Environment Act will oblige them to do so, and ensure there are consequences if they don't. This will mean less communities having to take a stand, and less risks for those who do so. The Act will protect people, and protect our planet.”
PBI is part of the Corporate Justice Coalition that is campaigning for a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act, and calling upon the Government to properly consult UK and international civil society on its provisions in order to ensure its effectiveness.
Sign the petition calling for a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act here!
