DO YOU ALSO WANT A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS? LET’S CHANGE THE RULES OF THE GAME TOGETHER!

by Giosuè De Salvo, Head of Advocacy, Education and Campaigns for Mani Tese

Multinational companies today find themselves operating all over the world in a context of substantial impunity. Many, too many of them are responsible for environmental devastation, systematic violations of workers’ rights, expulsions of indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands and repeated exploitation of child labor. Those who resist abuse are, when it goes well, fired on the spot, when it goes wrong, end up in prison, disappear into thin air or, worse, lose their lives.

After years of complaints from associations, NGOs and trade unions, the European Commission is finally ready to consider a new EU law that makes companies legally responsible for their impact on people and on the planet.

We refer to so-called “due diligence” rules in the field of human rights and the environment that should impose on all companies – from the giants of fossil fuels and agro-business, to fashion retailers and electronics manufacturers – to have effective policies and behaviors in ensuring that human rights and the environment are not harmed either by the operations they directly undertake at global level, or within the supply chains they use on five continents .

What is “Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence”?

It is generally understood as the process that companies must put in place to identify, prevent, reduce and account for the negative impacts of their activities or those involving subsidiaries, subcontractors, suppliers that are related to them.

Before making a proposal to the Council and Parliament, as is customary, the Commission wants to hear the voice of European citizens, yours, our voice. He then opened a public consultation in which Mani Tese participates and invites to participate.

By signing at the following link: www.enforcinghumanrights-duediligence.eu/en we will all indicate together which are the essential elements of the new legislation.

For this to work, it must:

• cover human rights, environmental and social impacts along the entire supply chain;
• have teeth: companies face heavy penalties if they break the rules;
• making companies responsible for bad practices both at home and abroad;
• involve the trade unions and NGOs present in the production plants and territories in the preparation of the “due diligence” plans at every stage of the process;
• ensure that businesses always consult with (potentially) interested communities and individuals and, when required by international conventions, obtain their consent;
• make it easier for all victims of corporate abuse, trade unions and civil society to seek justice in the courts of the European Union, where in the countries of origin of the victims there are no conditions to guarantee the right to a fair trial.

We need as many people as possible to convince the European Commission to change the rules of the game to end corporate impunity and enforce human rights and the environment.

The clock is ticking.

Help us build pressure, have your say until February 8, 2021!