Preserving Progress: Mandatory Human Rights & Environmental Due Diligence
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The exploitation of individuals working in garment production in the United Kingdom has been well-known for decades. The COVID-19 crisis did nothing but shed light on the instability of global supply chains across the globe, threatening to reverse progress. If ever there was a time to focus on protecting the rights of vulnerable groups, it is now, before hard-won gains are lost. It is essential for companies and investors to be legally obligated to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence. JIF has joined forces with other organisations in the UK to call on the government for urgent action in enforcing mandatory due diligence laws.?
Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) in the United Kingdom
It’s an open secret that in Leicester, up to 10,000 people are working to produce clothing in circumstances ranging from unsafe to modern-day slavery. Workers often do not understand their rights and face obstacles to raising concerns, and there are insufficient resources to help these workers navigate such challenges. As entities, manufacturers and suppliers in Leicester find themselves in a position of imbalanced power against large brands and have been exploited. For example, a brand can demand a discount after papers have been signed and the product completed, without care for how manufacturers with razor-thin margins will manage the loss of income or subsequently pass it on to labourers.?
These problems have been exacerbated by the post-pandemic cost of living crisis, piling on top of other related developments. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how fragile global supply chains can be and how reverberating disruptions affect workers, communities, indigenous peoples, and businesses around the world. There is a real risk that recent progress to reduce vulnerabilities will be reversed. For example, the number of children in child labour has risen to 160 million worldwide – an increase of 8.4 million children in the last four years – with millions more at risk due to the impacts of COVID-19, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNICEF’s Child Labour Global Estimates 2020.
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It is vital to maintain the progress made in protecting the rights of vulnerable groups. In order to avoid setbacks in upholding human rights and preserving the environment in the UK garment and footwear industry, all organisations must be legally required to conduct thorough human rights and environmental due diligence and comply with HREDD laws.?
The UK government has a significant role in building a more sustainable economy by introducing a new legal requirement for companies and investors to carry out human rights and environmental due diligence: levelling commitments to preventing human rights abuses and environmental harm in global operations and value chains.?
JIF has joined forces with 49 other leading businesses, investors, business associations, and initiatives operating in the UK to call on the government to enforce mandatory due diligence laws.