Weekly Update - 21 October 2015

Human Rights Watch

• refers to impacts on health, ability to access food & water
• calls on donor agencies to only approve projects after assessing human rights risks & putting in place measures to mitigate impacts; recommends govts. to adopt climate change policies based on human rights standards

CORE Coalition; with case studies provided by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

• representatives from Institute for Human Rights and Business, General Mills, EarthRights Intl., UN Development Programme & others share their views

• "The role of investors in re-channelling corporate influence in climate change" (ShareAction)
• "Going beyond numbers: Energy poverty and coal" (Dejusticia)

• including corporate criminal liability in treaty is necessary but insufficient to maximise impact, says Dr Nadia Bernaz, Middlesex Univ. School of Law

• new statements by Audi and Unilever added to previous statements by 13 other companies; also available in German
• commentary: "How can companies go beyond donations to support refugees in Europe?"

• programme on 1st day (16 Nov) includes: case studies on multi-stakeholder action; measuring states' implementation of UN Guiding Principles; challenges faced by women human rights defenders; leadership from the legal profession
• evening events: Business & Human Rights Journal launch; Ranking Digital Rights Corporate Accountability Index launch; Business briefing & reception
• events on 2nd & 3rd day to be highlighted in future Updates
• blog series on measuring implementation of UN Guiding Principles: Arnaud Poitevin, French Natl. Centre for Scientific Research, analyses whistleblowing

• see also: members of European Parliament urge EU to call on Thailand to stop "judicial harassment" of human rights researcher Andy Hall

Financial Times (UK)

twentyfifity & German Global Compact Network

Centre for Applied Legal Studies & Singapore Management Univ. Coalition on NAPs for Business and Human Rights

ActionAid Zambia; Business Day (So. Africa)

• we invited Glencore (majority owner of Mopani mine) to respond; response provided

BBC Newsnight (UK)

Doris Atwijukire, Africa Institute for Energy Governance, in New Vision (Uganda)

Grist (USA)

• we invited the companies to respond: Biosev, Bunge and Cargill responses provided; we will indicate whether Alcoolvale/Unialco responds in a future Update

Red de Justicia Ambiental del Tolima

• we invited AngloGold Ashanti to respond; response provided

Intl. Rivers

• dam financed by World Bank & Inter-American Development Bank

Human Rights Commission of Nuevo Leon (Mexico)

BBC; Hindu; Frontline; Financial Express (India)

• women work for Kanan Devan Hill Plantations (KDHP) - part-owned by Tata, owner of Tetley Tea

European Centre for Constitutional & Human Rights (ECCHR)

• CropLife & Syngenta issued statements in response to the report
• we invited Bayer to respond as well; response provided

Clean Clothes Campaign, Intl. Labor Rights Forum, Maquila Solidarity Network, Worker Rights Consortium

• we invited H&M to respond; response provided

Forest Peoples Programme

AFP

• we invited Revlon to respond; response provided

China Labour Bulletin

Hetq online (Armenia)

Eniko Horvath, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, in Huffington Post (UK)

Swedwatch & Fair Action

Building and Wood Worker's Intl.; Swiss OECD Natl. Contact Point

• EuroMed Rights statement highlights ongoing intimidation of independent unions SNAPAP and CGATA

• webinar on business action in response to refugee crisis (online, 22 Oct)
• impacts of natural resource extraction on women's rights (London, 26 Oct)
• "Peoples' Forum on Human Rights and Business 2015" (Nairobi, 26-30 Oct)
• "India Responsible Business Forum" (New Delhi, 27 Oct)
• workshop on implementing the UN Guiding Principles (Kuala Lumpur, 29 Oct)
• panel discussion on human rights risk in the supply chain (Sydney, 29 Oct)

• Fair Food Standards Council (Human Rights Investigator)
• Impactt Limited (Project Manager/Senior Project Officer)
• ShareAction (Campaigns/Programme Officer)
• Tsamota Certification Ltd (Intern)
• Verisk Maplecroft (Senior Labour Analyst)