Breaking news: CSDDD under attack - businesses, experts, investors and activists speak out
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
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Businesses, banks and activists resist EC plans to strip back human rights legislation
Today the European Commission introduced their ‘Omnibus simplification package’ to amend key laws of the EU Green Deal, including CSDDD, CSRD and Taxonomy. The package proposes significant changes, including the removal of civil liability provisions in the CSDDD and removing 80% of companies from scope in the CSRD.
The earlier announcement from the European Commission as well as the leaked draft to reform recently-agreed EU laws such as the CSDDD has already come under attack from?businesses,?experts, investors?and?activists?alike.
The UN Global Compact and companies including Unilever, Vattenfall and Nestlé have also expressed their concern. Nestlé Europe’s Bart Vandewaetere said that it had “been reporting on [environmental impact and human rights issues in the supply chain] ourselves for years. European regulations mean that more companies have to start doing that. That creates a level playing field and we welcome that."
Former president of Ireland Mary Robinson added: “Von der Leyen’s new Commission’s attempt to eviscerate these sustainability laws must not be agreed by the European Parliament and by the member states.â€
The European Banking Federation warned that weakening the CSRD could create challenges for banks, echoing concerns from more than 160 investors who cautioned that the Omnibus package could harm investment and increase legal uncertainty.
CSOs such as the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ), WWF and the Clean Clothes Campaign have also sharply criticised the proposal. The ECCJ writes the proposal is “not simplification, but full-scale deregulation designed to dismantle corporate accountabilityâ€.
Workers’ organisations and trade unions from garment-producing countries across Asia, Europe and Latin America also?opposed the ‘Omnibus’?this week, highlighting the risk the proposal will “exclude most supply chain workers†including 49 million home workers.
BUSINESS & HUMAN RIGHTS IN FOCUS?
SANCTIONS, FINANCIAL AID AND THE ROLE OF BUSINESS UNDER SPOTLIGHT ON THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF UKRAINE INVASION:
As the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was marked this week, the EU adopted its 16th package of sanctions against Russia. The measures target Russia’s shadow fleet, propaganda media outlets and banks in a package totalling 83 sanctions listings. The EU Council also added 53 new companies to the list of those directly supporting Russia's defence industrial base. A third of these companies are Russian, while the remainder are based in third countries, including China.
Meanwhile, a new report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (Crea) reveals that the EU is spending more on Russian oil and gas than it is on financial aid for Ukraine. The EU bought EUR21.9b of Russian oil and gas in the third year of the war, one-sixth more than the EUR18.7b allocated in financial aid to Ukraine.
Another report marking the anniversary by the B4Ukraine Coalition claims that the mass exodus of businesses from Russia following the invasion was overstated, with 1,599 multinational corporations still operating in Russia through local subsidiaries as of November 2024.
See also: Our latest blog examines the vital role international companies continue to play in enabling Russian aggression, three years on from the start of its war on Ukraine.
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TESLA UNDER FIRE FOR MULTIPLE ALLEGED ABUSES AT ITS FACTORIES:
Multiple reports this month claim alleged abuses and rights violations at both Tesla and SpaceX facilities. US regulators have cited Tesla for violating workplace safety rules in connection with the electrocution of a worker last summer at its plant in Austin. The lawsuit alleges negligence and argues that an electrical panel was supposed to be inactive before inspection but had already been powered up, leading to a fatal electrocution.
Separately, the company has also been fined for violating workplace heat protection rules at a plant in California - state regulators categorised the violation as “seriousâ€, meaning it could result in injury, illness or death. Elsewhere, a Bloomberg report alleges abuses among migrant workers at Tesla and SpaceX facilities, including project timelines compromising safety, long hours and a lack of protective equipment.
Tesla did not respond to journalists’ comments on any of these allegations.
AROUND THE WORLD
INTERNATIONAL
Spotlight:
South Asia Solidarity Group
British construction company J.C. Bamford Excavators Limited (JCB) is accused of complicity in human rights violations across the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), India and Kashmir due to the use of its machinery in state-led demolitions targeting marginalised communities, including forced evictions and destruction of homes.
In OPT, JCB equipment allegedly facilitates illegal Israeli settlements, while in India and Kashmir, it is accused of contributing to politically motivated demolitions targeting Muslim communities and marginalised groups.
? We invited JCB to respond to the allegations; it did not.
AFRICA
Spotlight:
Uganda: Anti-EACOP pipeline activists claim delayed prosecution is taking a financial and psychological toll
Daily Monitor
More than 20 activists arrested in August 2024 for protesting the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) construction are denouncing delayed prosecution, which they claim is taking a financial and psychological toll on them, with repeated adjournments after long journeys to the court.
The pipeline has faced opposition from environmental activists and local communities, who have alleged abuses since 2006, including harassment, intimidation, arrests, detentions and office closure by the government.?
Other news from the region:
AMERICAS
Spotlight:
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Major US financial services company StoneX has bought millions of dollars' worth of gold from a company linked to illegal mining, deforestation and mercury pollution in the Amazon rainforest, according to a new investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) and Repórter Brasil.
The report alleges that one of StoneX’s Brazilian suppliers sourced gold from a vast network of informal miners from across the Amazon, including some sanctioned by Brazil’s environment agency. Illegal “wildcat†mining has been linked to toxic pollution, devastation of Indigenous Peoples’ lands and threats to local communities. Opaque and complex buyer/supplier networks mean that illegally mined gold routinely ends up in international supply chains.
See also: Bolivia: Francisco Marupa, Indigenous leader of the Leco people, is killed; community points to illegal miners as perpetrators, IUCN
Other news from the region:
ASIA & PACIFIC
Spotlight:
领英推è
Global Press Journal
A new investigation has found that one in three patients at Nepal’s National Kidney Centre were returned migrant workers, who had apparently suffered kidney damage as a result of working in extreme temperatures, primarily in the Gulf region. As temperatures rise in Gulf countries, so does global alarm about rising incidences of kidney disease among workers doing intense physical labour in extreme heat, with limited water breaks and restricted bathroom access. ?
Other news from the region:
EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA
Spotlight:
Italy: Manufacturers cut “secret deals†to illegally dispose of toxic waste; ECHR condemns state for failing to protect citizens
New York Times; ECHR
In a landmark ruling, the European Court of Human Rights found that Italy had failed to protect the citizens of the Campania region by not addressing widespread waste dumping by criminal groups. Manufacturers allegedly made deals with local criminal organisations to illegally and cheaply dispose of hazardous waste.
The ruling is significant because it marks the first time that the Court found a breach of the right to life with respect to environmental pollution. ?
Other news from the region:
MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA
Spotlight:
Associated Press
A new investigation by AP shows the Israeli military’s alleged increase in the use of commercial AI models in conflict, including those created by Microsoft and OpenAI, raising questions about Silicon Valley’s role in the future of automated warfare. According to the report, Israel’s recent wars mark a leading instance in which commercial AI models have been used in active warfare, despite concerns that they were not originally developed for that purpose.
Microsoft did not respond to journalists’ questions on this story. OpenAI said that it does not have a partnership with Israel’s military, and its usage policies say its customers should not use its products to develop weapons, destroy property or harm people. ?
Other news from the region:
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Catch up on company responses & non-responses to key stories from previous weeks:
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- Conference | Corporate Sustainability and Environmental Rights in Asia (CSERA) Conference (18-19 Mar) ?
Details of these & other future events can be found here.
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At the Resource Centre:
Elsewhere:
- Executive Director - BankTrack
- Adviser on Business & Human Rights - The Danish Institute for Human Rights
- Deputy Executive Director - Inclusive Development International
- Communication Advisor, Consultancy - Ethical Fashion Initiative
- Climate Change and Human Rights Researcher - Climate Rights International
Company Responses