Open letter to EU Commissioners on human rights and climate-related investments

Carbon Market Watch advocates for a more holistic approach to the EU's sustainable finance framework, arguing that the current 'environmental taxonomy' lacks sufficient granularity and expert input regarding human rights. The letter recommends expanding minimum safeguards beyond ILO conventions to include the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and UN Guiding Principles, establishing a formal group of human rights experts to advise the Technical Expert Group, and committing to the development of a dedicated 'social taxonomy'.

• The authors argue that the current 'do-no-harm' principles in COM (2018) 353 are insufficient because they are developed exclusively for environmental objectives and are not directly linked to the mitigation of human rights harm.
• The letter recommends that minimum safeguards be expanded beyond the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) core conventions to include the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the International Bill of Human Rights, and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
• The authors propose a three-step structural approach for human rights provisions: developing uniform minimum safeguards and 'do-no-harm' criteria, assessing the need for activity-specific criteria for sector-specific risks, and implementing due diligence requirements based on OECD guidelines.
• The document criticizes the lack of human rights expertise within the Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance and suggests creating a formal advisory group of experts, including trade unions and civil society, and including the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) in the Platform on Sustainable Finance.
• The letter calls for the explicit commitment to develop a 'social taxonomy' for activities contributing to social objectives, noting that the current review clause in COM 2018 (353) does not guarantee its creation.

APA

Carbon Market Watch (2018). Open letter to EU Commissioners on human rights and climate-related investments. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/open-letter-to-eu-commissioners-on-human-rights-and-climate-related-investments/

Chicago

Carbon Market Watch. Open letter to EU Commissioners on human rights and climate-related investments. 2018. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/open-letter-to-eu-commissioners-on-human-rights-and-climate-related-investments/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Carbon Market Watch |title=Open letter to EU Commissioners on human rights and climate-related investments |date=23 July 2018 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/open-letter-to-eu-commissioners-on-human-rights-and-climate-related-investments/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{carbonmarketwatch2018open, author = {{Carbon Market Watch}}, title = {{Open letter to EU Commissioners on human rights and climate-related investments}}, publisher = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2018}, month = jul, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/publications/open-letter-to-eu-commissioners-on-human-rights-and-climate-related-investments/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }