Weekly Update - 20 May 2015

• fire exposes exploitative working conditions, including lax health & safety standards, long working hours, exposure to harmful chemicals
• Kentex says its will compensate survivors & victims' families
• “The lessons of Rana Plaza have still not been learned”, says UN Working Group on business & human rights

(credit: Microtexnano, Wikipedia)

Climate Group; Oxfam America; BBC; Business Green; Climate Action Network

• French foreign minister & executive secretary of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change urge, "global businesses must lead the way on climate action" 
• Oxfam America says strong commitments are in the interest of both business & those living in poverty
• global civil society network organises action for a "just transition" from fossil fuels
• Unilever CEO calls on govts. to set clear targets for carbon reduction
• industry group Cefic allegedly tries to weaken business support for climate action

Shift

• refers to Ericsson's first report under the framework, Unilever's upcoming human rights report; H&M, Nestlé and Newmont's collaboration with Shift on reporting

Diálogo Chino, Guardian

• concerns over social, environmental impacts of Chinese-backed infrastructure projects, including proposed 5,300km Brazil-Peru railway

SOMO

• we invited Nokia to respond - it declined

Tanya O'Carrol, Amnesty Intl., on Ethical Consumer (UK)

Centre pour l'Environnement et le Développement; Intl. Institute for Environment & Development

Lumière Synergie pour le Développement & Takkom Jerry Polyvalence Culturelle et Environnmentale

• we invited Nykomb Synergetics Development to respond - response provided

• Tiffany Co., Leber Jeweler, Brilliant Earth sign open statement in support of Rafael Marques

Council of Canadians; Common Dreams

• also provided: communities in three Salvadoran municipalities vote to ban mining due to adverse impacts including threat to access to water

Los Angeles Times

Julia Neiva & Sif Thorgeirsson, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

• commentary also available in Portuguese
• also provided: Brazil cancels 2 billion USD contract with Israeli security firm for Rio Olympics reportedly over human rights concerns

NDTV (India); Express News Service; Hindustan Times; Business Standard; Firstpost

Agence France-Presse

• Intl. Commission of Jurists condemns "grossly unfair" trial that lasted 5 minutes
• Amnesty Intl. urges Wanbao to prevent forced evictions due to mine

• we invited Syngenta to respond - response provided

Irene Pietropaoli, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

• 157 NGOs call for mandatory supply chain due diligence & reporting for all companies ahead of 20 May vote
• video: Richard Howitt, EU CSR Rapporteur, urges strong regulation

EurActiv (Belgium)

econsense

• full report only available in German

Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights

Middle East Eye; Blouin Artinfo

• BBC reporters arrested in Qatar while investigating migrant worker abuses
• Gulf Labour artists barred from UAE after criticising working conditions

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre; Notre Dame Univ. Law School

Human Rights in Business

• e-learning course on corporate social responsibility (online, 20 May-30 June)
• Business & Climate Summit 2015 (Paris, 20-21 May)
• course on business & human rights development (Copenhagen, 26-27 May)
• debate: what divestment from fossil fuels means for business (London, 26 May)
• "Climate Change & Intl. Human Rights Law: The Challenges for Business" (London, 27 May)

• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (2 internships: Research & Projects Intern; Legal Research Intern)
• Danish Institute for Human Rights (3 internships: Corporate Engagement; Human Rights & Business; Russian-Speaking) 
• Global Witness (Director of Strategic Partnerships)
• UNICEF UK (Head of Corporate Engagement)
• University of Pretoria (Project Officer for Business & Human Rights)