Violations of human and environment rights continue

A statement by Friends of the Earth International marking the 5th anniversary of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, arguing that these principles have failed to stop corporate impunity or provide access to justice, and advocating for a binding UN treaty on business and human rights.

• The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights are not official UN criteria or standing policy negotiated by States, meaning States are not obliged to incorporate them into national policy but are instead 'strongly encouraged' to create National Action Plans (NAPs).
• Friends of the Earth International asserts that neither the UN Guiding Principles nor National Action Plans have successfully held multinational corporations accountable or provided affected communities with enforceable mechanisms for justice and the implementation of verdicts.
• The UN Human Rights Council adopted resolution 26/09 on 26 June 2014 to establish an intergovernmental working group for a binding treaty on transnational corporations and human rights, which would apply international human rights law to corporate activities for the first time.
• The European Union and the United States are criticized for lacking support for the UN treaty while supporting investment treaties and trade deals that include private tribunals allowing corporations to seek compensation from governments for regulations that reduce profits.
• Within the European Union, only seven out of 28 member states had adopted a National Action Plan (NAP) since 2011 as of the date of the statement: the UK, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and more recently Lithuania.

APA

admin (2016). Violations of human and environment rights continue. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/violations-of-human-and-environment-rights-continue/

Chicago

admin. Violations of human and environment rights continue. Friends of the Earth International, 2016. https://www.foei.org/violations-of-human-and-environment-rights-continue/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=admin |title=Violations of human and environment rights continue |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=16 June 2016 |url=https://www.foei.org/violations-of-human-and-environment-rights-continue/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{admin2016violations, author = {admin}, title = {{Violations of human and environment rights continue}}, publisher = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2016}, month = jun, url = {https://www.foei.org/violations-of-human-and-environment-rights-continue/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }