The Global Business Initiative on Human Rights (GBI) and the Brazilian Council for Sustainable Development (CEBDS) published a briefing with key learnings and recommendations for companies on integrating human rights into climate and environmental action. The takeaways are based on a series of three webinars held in September and October 2024 with business practitioners on business and human rights in the Brazilian context.
Human Level’s Take:
- Respect for human rights is central to meaningful, effective climate action. Takeaways from a webinar series hosted by GBI and CEBDS reveal that companies will need to act on both fronts to meet their social and environmental commitments. The webinar series focused on the Brazilian context but shares valuable insights for companies across countries and sectors
- A cross-cutting theme is the importance of conducting holistic human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) across everything companies do to manage climate and environmental impacts in their value chain. This can include integrating HREDD into emissions-reduction activities, into strategies to make workplaces climate-resilient, and into actions to protect and restore water and the environment
- What are some of the key actions for companies highlighted by GBI and CEBDS?
- In terms of human rights impacts and company climate action, companies can ensure that their HREDD is context-specific and informed by stakeholder engagement. They can align policy commitments to reflect climate-related human rights risks, build integrated governance and grievance mechanisms, and strengthen internal awareness of the links between climate and human rights through training and cross-functional collaboration
- To protect workers from climate-related impacts on the job, companies can go beyond compliance with existing laws to advocate for legal reforms that reflect evolving climate risks, address issues like thermal safety, and invest in re-skilling to manage job displacement —while working with communities, civil society, and governments to create new training and employment opportunities
- And, to respect the rights to water and sanitation posed by climate change, environmental degradation and business activities, companies can use HREDD to evaluate their impact on community water access, collaborate with peers and governments on local and systemic solutions, and apply data-driven tools to address water and sanitation risks with a human-centered approach
Some key takeaways:
- Human rights impacts linked to company climate action: The first webinar in the series examined how company climate actions—like shifting to renewables, regenerative agriculture, the circular economy and nature-based solutions—can significantly impact people. It also highlighted key challenges in applying human rights frameworks, such as the fast pace of climate project deployment and internal silos between human rights and climate teams. The brief points to examples shared by companies across sectors, which include mapping climate-vulnerable people and places to inform human rights and climate action plans, identifying alternatives to high-emitting commodities, integrating human rights into climate transition plans, and more. GBI and CEBDS highlight key recommendations across four areas for companies to manage the potential human rights impacts of company climate action. First, companies are expected to conduct comprehensive human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) across all climate action activities, using an integrated approach to address environmental and human rights risks holistically. This process needs to be informed by meaningful stakeholder engagement and adapted to reflect the specific contexts and challenges of climate-related initiatives. Second, companies can clarify the company’s vision for tackling these impacts through aligned policy commitments; for example, this could be a revision to existing human rights policies to include climate as a risk or link HREDD to climate actions, or a commitment to a just transition. Third, companies can establish integrated governance structures to tackle climate and human rights risks holistically and ensure grievance mechanisms address human rights impacts linked to their climate actions. Fourth, companies can raise internal awareness to bring a human rights lens to climate action, for example through training for environment and climate teams or joint impact assessments.
- Climate impacts on worker welfare: The second webinar explored the ways in which climate-driven impacts, like excessive heat, ultraviolet (UV) radiation, extreme weather events, workplace air pollution, vector-borne diseases, and agrochemicals can impact workers’ rights. The webinar delved into the Brazilian context and legal landscape, with learnings relevant for other regions. For example, the brief shares an example from a law firm that discussed the importance of integrating a climate lens into human rights due diligence to help identify and address the impacts of climate and environmental factors to workers. GBI and CEBDS recommend that companies comply with existing laws while also advocating for legal reforms to protect workers from climate-related risks. Companies can also take additional measures like addressing thermal safety and other climate impacts to workers. To address job displacement from climate-driven technological shifts, companies can invest in reskilling and collaborate with communities, civil society, and governments to support new opportunities and training.
- Acting on the rights to water and sanitation: The third webinar focused on the increased risks to clean water posed by climate change, environmental degradation and business activities. Climate change and population growth can intensify water scarcity and sanitation challenges by disrupting water cycles, increasing demand and straining infrastructure, especially for vulnerable communities needing greater access to water as temperatures rise. The brief shares the example of one company that created an action plan on the human rights to water and sanitation, including developing water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) strategies for agricultural supply chains, conducting WASH-related HREDD, collaborating with stakeholders, and pursuing systems change with peers, stakeholders and government. The company also integrated a human rights lens into its regenerative agriculture strategy, recognising the need for a just transition. GBI and CEBDS share key recommendations for companies to respect rights to water and sanitation. Practitioners can use HREDD to assess how their operations impact community access to water and collaborate with local stakeholders to find inclusive solutions. They can also adapt climate tools to reflect human impacts and use data-driven approaches, including AI, to proactively manage water and sanitation risks.
