Our key takeaway: Social dialogue and stakeholder engagement with workers’ representatives and trade unions is fundamental to companies’ human rights due diligence (HRDD) efforts for two reasons. Workers are given a channel to express the reality of workplace labour conditions, and this enables companies to collect information on the human rights risks and impacts, as well as their root causes, in their value chains. Third-party certifications and audits seldom capture the full array of human rights impacts on the ground. HRDD also strengthens social dialogue itself because it provides an opportunity for companies to assess whether the enabling rights underpinning meaningful stakeholder engagement - freedom of association (FOA) and the right Our key takeaway: The current 1.1°C of global temperature rise is “wreaking havoc across the planet,” from extreme temperatures, to worrying sea level rise from melting ice, “record-breaking” warming in oceans, and “supercharg[ed] droughts, floods, wildfires, and cyclones.” In this context, urgent action on the part of governments is needed at COP28. With the right goals and a practical roadmap, “the world can jump-start an urgently needed course correction on climate change as Parties respond to findings from the first Global Stocktake.” A report by the Systems Change Lab highlights the constellation of efforts—and diversity of actors—that will be needed to help limit warming to 1.5°C. The report highlights the importance of government action to not only set ambitious targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, but to embed these goals in economic policies and regulations to push and incentivise companies to reduce emissions, with “justice and equity [taking] center stage in global efforts to accelerate sectoral transformations.” Companies have a role to play in drastically reducing their own emissions across the value chain, but they can also have a multiplier effect across the economy by advocating for such policies, taking meaningful efforts that will support national goals, and both encouraging and facilitating action on the part of their suppliers across the globe. “A shift from business-as-usual, incremental change into emergency mode is now needed to deliver this level of required acceleration.”Our key takeaway: The current 1.1°C of global temperature rise is “wreaking havoc across the planet,” from extreme temperatures, to worrying sea level rise from melting ice, “record-breaking” warming in oceans, and “supercharg[ed] droughts, floods, wildfires, and cyclones.” In this context, urgent action on the part of governments is needed at COP28. With the right goals and a practical roadmap, “the world can jump-start an urgently needed course correction on climate change as Parties respond to findings from the first Global Stocktake.” A report by the Systems Change Lab highlights the constellation of efforts—and diversity of actors—that will be needed to help limit warming to 1.5°C. The report highlights the importance of government action to not only set ambitious targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, but to embed these goals in economic policies and regulations to push and incentivise companies to reduce emissions, with “justice and equity [taking] center stage in global efforts to accelerate sectoral transformations.” Companies have a role to play in drastically reducing their own emissions across the value chain, but they can also have a multiplier effect across the economy by advocating for such policies, taking meaningful efforts that will support national goals, and both encouraging and facilitating action on the part of their suppliers across the globe. “A shift from business-as-usual, incremental change into emergency mode is now needed to deliver this level of required acceleration.”Our key takeaway: The current 1.1°C of global temperature rise is “wreaking havoc across the planet,” from extreme temperatures, to worrying sea level rise from melting ice, “record-breaking” warming in oceans, and “supercharg[ed] droughts, floods, wildfires, and cyclones.” In this context, urgent action on the part of governments is needed at COP28. With the right goals and a practical roadmap, “the world can jump-start an urgently needed course correction on climate change as Parties respond to findings from the first Global Stocktake.” A report by the Systems Change Lab highlights the constellation of efforts—and diversity of actors—that will be needed to help limit warming to 1.5°C. The report highlights the importance of government action to not only set ambitious targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, but to embed these goals in economic policies and regulations to push and incentivise companies to reduce emissions, with “justice and equity [taking] center stage in global efforts to accelerate sectoral transformations.” Companies have a role to play in drastically reducing their own emissions across the value chain, but they can also have a multiplier effect across the economy by advocating for such policies, taking meaningful efforts that will support national goals, and both encouraging and facilitating action on the part of their suppliers across the globe. “A shift from business-as-usual, incremental change into emergency mode is now needed to deliver this level of required acceleration.” to collective bargaining - are being respected across their value chains. What can companies do? Put simply, companies must integrate social dialogue with workers’ representatives and trade unions into HRDD processes and conduct HRDD on whether the FOA and right to collective bargaining are being respected. This is to be done in accordance with internationally agreed standards on responsible business conduct (RBC), such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines).
Global Deal published Enabling Effective Due Diligence on Human Rights Risks through Social Dialogue tool (November 2023):
