How can human rights be integrated into the EIA process?

The safeguarding of Human Rights has witnessed significant progress since its adoption in 1948. Yet, social inequalities show that a lot more has to be done. Just like democracy, we can not take HR for granted but fight for it everyday, especially now with the advancement of what Harari calls the second AI. In the message titled "Artificial Intelligence and Peace," (2024), while acknowledging the efficiency of AI, Pope Francis emphasizes that AI is fundamentally fragmentary and cannot replicate the unique human capacity for moral judgment and ethical decision”. The creator of ChatGPT, Sam Altman, stated that regulation will be critical and will take time. Let’s hope regulation and inspection will guarantee AI spreads HR and not hate.

AI has the potential to enhance Human Rights monitoring by quickly analyzing data to identify abuses. Its ability to process information from various sources can lead to timely interventions. AI also helps in interpreting Human Rights laws unbiasedly, promoting consistent global application. However, AI's integration into Human Rights poses challenges, such as potential biases from training data and privacy concerns. Therefore, its use requires careful, transparent, and accountable implementation, ensuring it aligns with Human Rights principles and balances protection with ethical considerations.

In my experience, Integrating human rights into the EIA process is key for sustainable development. It involves extending focus beyond environmental aspects to include social and ethical dimensions, ensuring active involvement of all stakeholders, especially marginalized communities, in decision-making. This approach requires balancing developmental goals with community and individual rights, where AI and technology can assist but not replace human ethical judgment. This integration is central to the ESG framework, enhancing sustainability and ethical impact, and emphasizing the importance of social and governance considerations in development projects.

Awareness of normal people about their Safety in the prevailing industrialization near to their residence area is of prime Safety. It is responsibility of all industrial sector who affects their Safety to provide information of Hazards associated with their activities. They must provide basic Safety data and training for mitigation of eventualities. This is also a responsibility as per Factory act.

Integrating human rights into Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes involves considering the social impacts of projects. This includes assessing potential effects on local communities, ensuring their right to a healthy environment, and engaging in meaningful consultations to address concerns. It requires a holistic approach that balances development goals with the protection of human rights and environmental well-being.

One thing I have found helpful in integrating human rights in EIA is community level consultations. This could take various ways including interviews (open or closed), key informants amongst others. It is also important that one asks leading questions based on literature review. While this may have some bias, it could positively trigger some answers in this line

O processo decisório de qualquer corpora??o tem que, obrigatoriamente, incluir uma abordagem baseada nos direitos humanos e isso transcende a cláusulas contratuais ou códigos de ética. Garantir que sua opera??o e sua cadeia de valor (estendida) sejam livres de práticas em desacordo aos direitos humanos é o que clientes, consumidores e a sociedade esperam de quem oferece produtos e servi?os. Essa abordagem n?o é simples de ser executada, requer governan?a, mecanismos de verifica??o e controle, auditorias como parte de um grande programa de compliance a ser adotado em todos os níveis do relacionamento com parceiros e fornecedores. Certamente hoje um dos setores mais expostos e com grande desenvolvimento neste sentido é o varejo.

In the Philippines, participation is a mandated aspect of EIA, being checked from project conceptualization to project monitoring. Human rights can be integrated by enabling participation of all sectors in conceptualization and meetings.

Cada vez mais, o desenvolvimento e implementa??o de projetos necessita levar em conta a AIA e sua intera??o com direitos humanos. Na Apsen, empresa onde sou VP, essa é uma preocupa??o que se faz presente sempre. Recentemente, com as obras de amplia??o de nosso complexo industrial, essa discuss?o em torno da integra??o entre direitos humanos e a quest?o do impacto ambiental se fez mais uma vez necessária. Investir em uma obra gigantesca, no meio de S?o Paulo, exigiu, ainda na fase de desenvolvimento do projeto, o envolvimento de nossa área Ambiental, a fim de indicar possíveis impactos com o foco ambiental, mas que se relacionam com quest?es socioecon?micas e, consequentemente, com impacto na vida e nos direitos das pessoas.

by considering the potential impacts of projects on the rights of individuals and communities. This involves assessing social and cultural aspects, ensuring public participation, and addressing potential adverse effects on human well-being. Incorporating a human rights in the EIA process helps s Protect the rights to a healthy environment, access to information, and meaningful participation in decision-making. It also ensures that vulnerable populations are adequately protected from negative environmental consequences.

A key benefit of integrating human rights into an EIA from a corporate perspective lies in the contribution to the company’s compliance objectives. More and more companies are subject to SCDD related regulations, especially European ones. SCDD regulations require the careful consideration of potential human rights risks along the value chain, and integrating HR into an EIA will be able to be ‘counted’ as a corresponding DD effort. However, it will then also be important to follow up on and mitigate potentially identified adverse impacts on human rights.

La diligencia debida en materia de derechos humanos consiste en identificar, prevenir, mitigar, eliminar y reparar los efectos adversos en los derechos humanos que las empresas generen o hayan contribuido a generar. Para ello, se debe realizar un análisis de la actividad de la propia empresa, de sus filiales y de su cadena de valor. Entre los principales beneficios de la integración de los derechos humanos en la EIA destaca la mitigación de los riesgos asociados (mapas de riesgo) a través de la definición de marcos de control interno e implementación de mecanismos de supervisión.

Fundamental na integra??o da IA e direitos humanos a perspectiva dos direitos do cidad?o. A ferramenta e sua tecnologia subjacente s?o importantes para dissemina??o do conhecimento e aumento da produtividade, mas isso deve ocorrer protegendo os direitos do cidad?o, o que traz rela??o estreita com os direitos humanos.

The integrating human rights into EIA provides a prism to see how far away some organisations have creeped away from the basic rights which we all take for granted. Even within a UK business context, staff with disabilities are often not afforded the rights they are entitled to under UK law.

Ich denke weiter "Lieferketten": Gerade die letzten Jahre haben gezeigt, wie abh?ngig wir von unseren Lieferketten sind, know your business partner kann helfen, eine stabliere Beziehung aufzubauen (upstream) und somit die Risiken zu minimieren. Downstream sehe ich unter anderem die Minimierung des Reputationsrisikos. Weiters kann sich Verantwortungsbewusstes Handeln auch auf die Resilienz der Mitarbeiter:innen st?rken - die Erwartungshaltung Unternehmen gegenüber steigt (endlich!).

Enquanto muitas corpora??es saem de S?o Paulo, em busca de lugares mais baratos para sua opera??o, fechando fábricas e deixando milhares de pessoas sem emprego e locais abandonados, na Apsen, empresa onde sou VP, buscamos investir em áreas já degradadas (social e ambientalmente falando). Temos um compromisso com o bairro, onde a empresa nasceu há mais de meio século, e queremos continuar contribuindo para o progresso da regi?o e de toda a popula??o local. A preocupa??o no desenvolvimento local, na manuten??o dos empregos com jornadas e salários dignos e quem sabe amplia??o desses postos diretos e indiretos, demonstra de forma prática nossa preocupa??o com os direitos humanos.

To integrate human rights, an organisation must be aligned with the 10 principles set by the UN Global Compact. In addition, SOPs and policies to be framed as per ILO norms. External assessments and evaluations must be conducted by independent agencies on aspects of Human Rights, Workplace Safety, and Fair and Equal Pay. Mechanism to ensure non-discriminatory leadership and open feedback mechanisms across the organisation.

Meiner Meinung nach ist es essenziell, dass soical und environmental Sustainabililty nicht isoliert betrachtet werden. Die CSRD sieht zB dafür eine doppelte Wesentlichkeitsanalyse vor, was für mich ein zukunftsweisender Schritt ist, auch wenn das natürlich mit Herausforderungen einhergehen wird. Fundierte Guidelines gibt es neben dem UNGC auch durch die Guidelines der OECD, zB Leitfaden für die Erfüllung der Sorgfaltspflicht für verantwortlungsvolles Unternehmerisches Handeln.

A key learning (and also the action area) for me is to recognise the persistent capacity and knowledge gaps among all stakeholders. Understanding how the State's duty to 'protect' and the corporate responsibility to 'respect' human rights in the context of business activities can be achieved in practice necessitates building capacity across the board. Restoring human rights amidst many crises requires openness, courage and determination to foster meaningful partnerships and shared power among stakeholders. Organising and amplifying the voices of the affected communities, so that they are able to participate in all decisions and suggest what works for them and what won't.

1. Identify potentially affected external stakeholders, i.e. people and communities whose human rights may be directly, or indirectly via environmental impacts, be impacts by the project that is being assessed. 2. Assess the individual nature, severity, scope and probability of these human rights impacts. 3. Prioritize these impacts, including the affected stakeholders, for direct engagement, further analysis and - where necessary - impact or impact risk mitigating action. 4. Define and execute specific mitigating actions. 5. Assess their effectiveness. 6. Learn from these experiences, revise, and evolve analysis and actions… - engaging affected stakeholders along the way.

The biggest challenge I see is the fact that globally we have moved away from the human rights first approach. With neo loberal policies it is hardly possible to lay the foundation of human rights within policies and the implementation that follows. For the framework to even start off the governance framework needs to be independent of the capitalist market reality that we live in globally. The attack on palestine is a great example on how far away we have gotten from human rights framework.

While integrating human rights into Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) offers numerous benefits, the process faces several challenges. Here are some of the key obstacles: 1. Lack of Awareness and Capacity: 2. Limited Guidance and Standards: 3. Data and Information Gaps: 4. Participation and Consultation Barriers: 5. Enforcement and Accountability Issues: By acknowledging and addressing these challenges, we can work towards making human rights an integral part of the EIA process, paving the way for more responsible and sustainable development that respects the rights and well-being of all individuals and communities.

Integrating HRBA involves safeguarding human rights and interests, acknowledging that projects or policies can have social, economic, and cultural impacts beyond the immediate environmental considerations and for that it is imperative that the people behind the integration have the correct understanding of the basis of human rights, and o avoid merely treating HRBA as a formality or checklist item. This will mean a deeper commitment to understanding and applying human rights principles genuinely, rather than just meeting a procedural requirement. Engaging with communities and grassroots CSOs will be important, and should align with legal frameworks, ensuring that community rights are respected, protected, and fulfilled.

The main challenge for integrating a Human Rights-Based Approach into Environmental Impact Assessment is overcoming institutional resistance and ensuring a shift in mindset among stakeholders. This requires breaking traditional silos between environmental and human rights sectors, fostering collaboration, and promoting a holistic understanding of sustainable development.

Integrar los derechos humanos en la EIA implica el desafío de comprender y entender el rol social que tiene la naturaleza para la superviviencia y desarrollo de la sociedad, como opuesto de entender a la naturaleza sólo como un recurso natural que permite obtener beneficios económicos.

Considero importantíssimo ressaltar que, ainda que as empresas estejam iniciando sua jornada na agenda de sustentabilidade e n?o sejam juridicamente obrigadas a fazer esse tipo de avalia??o sobre impacto ambiental e sua rela??o com os direitos humanos, é essencial que tenham um olhar e assumam a iniciativa de levar esses aspectos em considera??o na implanta??o de novos projetos. Ainda que com falhas e muito aprendizado, é importante come?ar, entender onde se está inserido e os impactos positivos e negativos no seu entorno direto. Ainda que algumas análises tenham algum custo, é importante ouvir em algum momento as expectativas e necessidades da comunidade do entorno das atuais e futuras opera??es

It’s important to access the effectiveness (i.e. ultimate impact) of all efforts made to integrate human rights into EIAs. Sole paper exercises won’t suffice, you need to make sure stakeholders actually receive a durable benefit on the ground.

Human Rights approach needs to govern EIA. The challenge is that often human rights is reduced to rights of individuals and information is collected as ‘human rights needs’ of individuals. By definition, this is a systemic issue. The right to safe environment and Planet is to be seen from how various livelihood systems and capitalist policies denied rights to human beings at margins.

Leyes vigentes (locales/estatales/ federales) Procedimientos (de empresa) Diagnósticos participativos Consultas ciudadanas Consulta indígena

There is no mechanism in country like India where surrounding villages have their own records,logging about neighbouring industries. It is the the duty of the industries to provide an independent third party environmental consultant on behalf of villages to keep such treks of data,incidences, threats of Safety to have better harmony between Industries and surrounding.