Weekly Update - 14 September 2016

Reuters; Deutsche Welle; Daily Star; Indian Express

• worst Bangladesh factory disaster since 2013 Rana Plaza garment factory collapse killed over 1100

• based on survey of 275 senior company lawyers
• key findings include:
  • 84% of firms with USD10 billion+ annual revenue have human rights policies
  • legal is most likely business function assigned responsibility for human rights
  • mandatory reporting laws & commercial contracts are leading legal teams to place greater scrutiny on supply chains

• lawyers finding some new paths to hold companies legally accountable for modern slavery, but most victims cannot yet access remedies
• updates on existing case profiles & 3 new case profiles on modern slavery:
  • lawsuit against DJ Houghton (re trafficked Lithuanian migrants in UK) – court found company liable
  • lawsuits against Costco & Nestlé (both re Thai fishing industry) - both cases were dismissed, plaintiffs in Nestlé case have appealed
• also available in Chinese, French, Russian & Spanish

• case studies of allegations & positive steps by wind & hydropower projects
• webinar: role of investors in ensuring respect for human rights in renewable energy development

• we invited 6 key banks to respond: responses by Santander, HSBC, Crédit Agricole, Sumitomo Mitsui
• Bank of America &  Goldman Sachs did not respond
• 8 banks identified as front-runners, with Rabobank & Citigroup at top of list

Investor Platform for Climate Actions; Triple Pundit

• also available in French, Portuguese & Spanish 

TeleSur (Venezuela)

CECIDE and Même Droits pour Tous (Guinea)

• we invited AngloGold Ashanti to respond; response provided

The Star

• we invited Kakuzi to respond; response provided

Premium Times

International Rivers; Reuters

Bloomberg Law

Laura W. Murphy, President of Airbnb; Wired

AFP; Associated Press

• chief convicted of corruption but supporters say he was wrongfully charged

Undercurrent News

Labour Action China (LAC), Labour Education and Service Network (LESN), Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO)

• factories supply to companies including: Apple, Asus, Canon, Foxconn, Huawei, Philips, Samsung, Sony
• 11 of 23 client companies named responded to a draft version of the report

Clean Clothes Campaign

Swedish & Norwegian OECD Natl. Contact Points

European Affairs Committee inter-parliamentary meeting

Business and Human Rights in Ireland

The Globe and Mail (Canada)

Guardian (UK)

• scholars conference on business & human rights (16-17 Sep, Seattle)
• course: company-community mediation (30 Oct-4 Nov, apply by 16 Sep, Cape Town)
• legal implications of OECD Guidelines (17 Sep, Washington DC)
• "Can fast fashion ever be ethical?" (20 Sep, London)
• managing bribery & corruption in supply chains (20 Sep, online)
• workshop for businesses on UK Modern Slavery Act (21 Sep, Manchester)
• 2016 Engaging Business Forum (22-23 Sep, Atlanta)
• legal training programme, incl. business & human rights (23 Sep, Edinburgh)
• business tackling deforestation, focus on Asia (27-28 Sep, Singapore)

• Center for Constitutional Rights (Advocacy Program Manager)
• Fair Labor Association (4 posts: Finance & Administration Associate; Monitoring & Evaluation Assistant; Participating Supplier Program Manager; Research & Technical Advisor)
• Global Witness (Campaign Leader, Myanmar Extractive Industries)
• Human Rights Watch (Director, Environment & Human Rights Program)
• Physicians for Human Rights (Institutional Development Manager)