I feel like I’ve been at the European Parliament this week, using their new water dispensers (replacing their water bottles - well done Heidi Hautala!). Like many of you, I’ve been listening intently to the discussions there on the EU CS3D (as part of the Responsible Business Conduct Working Group conference.) 📣
I have such a warm feeling inside when I see close friends and colleagues up there, who have been paving the way for this law for years, and a slightly different - more nostalgic and sad feeling - when I think about those who are no longer with us - including John Ruggie of course. As Rachel Davis (Shift’s co-founder and one of my best friends in the world from years back!) said: “Yes, John would have been very happy that we got here.” ⭐
So what is here? An EU Directive that, all speakers at the European Parliament agreed, was a game-changer, a paradigm shift, a new era. An EU Directive that consolidates the international standards that already apply to companies, and enshrines them into law. An EU Directive that is focused on where the risks to people are the most severe, that expects companies to ‘lean in’ to the issues and take meaningful actions to tackle them - including in collaboration with others - and that requests that companies look at their own business decisions and strategies including their purchasing practices. For those who weren’t able to join, we’ve summarised a recently released FAQ by Shift on the topic, so you’re up to date. 📚
In other news, a shout-out to Katryn Wright for her work on using behavioural science to improve responsible business practices which was discussed at a roundtable this week. Katryn (with the MoreThanNow's Human rights Lab) will be delving into how we take our business and human rights work to the next level in particular in the following questions: (1) Is storytelling effective at engaging training recipients and changing their behaviour? Which stories resonate best? (2) What types of grievance mechanisms lead to greatest worker trust and usage (e.g. internal, independent, worker voice app) when cascaded through operations and supply chains? (3) Does increasing psychological safety between buyer and supplier lead to more human rights impacts being flagged and addressed collaboratively? If you are interested in being a part of this research (I’m sure it will be interesting & impactful), get in touch with Katryn here! 💡
And talking about story-telling, I’m going to get this book for myself over the weekend: ‘The Most Important Comic Book on Earth: Stories to Save the World’ after hearing Outrage + Optimism talk about it. The author Paul Goodneough shares the power of comic books, stories, and music to say to those reading/ listening: “we want to put your arm around you, and make it easy for you to come into environmentalism.” 🌎
I love that imagery - especially since we are all people at the end of the day, and all of us are experiencing and will experience the climate and nature crises we’re in, albeit in different ways (hence the importance of just transitions). Every day that goes by I’m more and more convinced of the power of human rights to equip us for the road ahead of us - oh and the European Court of Human Rights agrees - see here 😊
Anna 💫
