Business & Human Rights

NGOs Allege Lack of Compliance with French “Vigilance” Law

July 10, 2019

Nongovernmental organizations Sherpa and Terre Solidaire have developed a list of French companies they believe are subject to the country’s “duty of vigilance” law, finding that approximately one-quarter of these companies have not published reports on addressing rights impacts and lamenting the lack of a national monitoring mechanism.
Refinery Cuts Ties with Artisanal Mines over Due Diligence Costs

July 10, 2019

Signaling industry blowback to “due diligence” initiatives requiring companies to address human rights impacts in their global supply chains, Swiss gold refinery Metalor Technologies has announced it will cease importing gold from artisanal mines due to the cost of tracking impacts of such mining operations.
Paper Demands “Gender-Responsive” Implementation of UNGPs

July 10, 2019

The Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights has published a paper explains how companies must incorporate “gender-responsive human rights due diligence” processes in their implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).
ISO Publishes First Standard on Climate Adaptation

July 03, 2019

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published its first global standard guiding companies on how to evaluate the impacts of climate change on their business operations and how to develop adaptation strategies to respond to these impacts.
Germany Fines Facebook over “Hate Speech” Reporting

July 03, 2019

Politico reports that the German government has fined Facebook €2 million for failing to adequately report the number of complaints the social-media giant received relating to “hate speech” on its platform.