Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and Earthjustice advocate for state-mandated transparent ESG data disclosure to prevent greenwashing and human rights violations. They specifically criticize the use of carbon offsets by fossil fuel companies to justify the expansion of oil and gas production, arguing that such practices rearrange rather than reduce emissions and often violate human rights.

• The authors support the Working Group's finding that investors need decision-useful data from investees regarding human rights and alignment with the Guiding Principles across ESG criteria to fulfill their responsibility to respect human rights.
• The absence of uniform global standards for transparent ESG data disclosure facilitates greenwashing, allowing corporations to make deceptive public statements while withholding accurate information on environmental and human rights impacts.
• Fossil fuel companies use carbon-offsetting technologies to justify expanding oil and gas production, but these activities often result in human rights violations and merely rearrange emissions instead of reducing them.
• The authors call on States to enforce regulations requiring environmental and human rights due diligence across value chains and to mandate verifiable emissions reduction targets that do not rely on carbon offsets.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2024). Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/HRC56_statement-WG_CIEL_EJ__June-2024.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises. 2024. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/HRC56_statement-WG_CIEL_EJ__June-2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises |date=26 June 2024 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/HRC56_statement-WG_CIEL_EJ__June-2024.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2024interactive, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Interactive Dialogue with the Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2024}, month = jun, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/HRC56_statement-WG_CIEL_EJ__June-2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }