Business & Human Rights

France Passes Business Due Diligence Law

March 14, 2017

EurActiv reports that the French Parliament has passed a law requiring multinational companies to develop due diligence procedures monitoring human rights and environmental impacts of their subsidiaries and in their supply chains.
Academics Seek Larger EU Role in BHR Action

March 14, 2017

A paper published by the European University Institute calls for the EU to initiate an "Open Method of Coordination" process to encourage and benchmark the development by member states of effective "national action plans" on implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (BHR).
NGOs Criticize EU Development Bank's BHR Record

March 14, 2017

The nongovernmental coalition CEE Bankwatch Network has published a report criticizing the European Investment Bank for failing to perform, in compliance with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (BHR), proper due diligence assessments of the BHR impacts of projects it funds outside the EU.
Investors Seek Retention of SEC Minerals Rule

March 14, 2017

Signaling the impact activists are having on investors and banks over the social and environmental impacts of their finance decisions, a group of investors has published a letter to the US Securities and Exchange Commission calling for the continued enforcement of the agency's rule requiring reporting on businesses' use of "conflict minerals" from Africa.
UN Pushes Broad Regulation of Plastics Use

March 13, 2017

The UN Environment Programme has launched a Clean Seas campaign that is calling on governments around the world to broadly regulate the use of plastics, including by banning "microplastics" and pushing businesses to adjust their supply chains to reduce plastic waste, to limit the amount of plastics that reach marine ecosystems.