Berlin, April 20, 2022. The European Union must require companies in all EU countries to protect human rights and the environment in their supply chains. This is the demand of the "Supply Chain Law Initiative," a broad civil society alliance of more than 130 organizations, on the ninth anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster. More than a thousand people died in the collapse of a textile factory in Bangladesh on April 24, 2013.
The initiative criticizes the fact that the German supply chain law passed last year is insufficient to effectively prevent such incidents in the future. Under the motto "Yes EU Can," the alliance is therefore launching a new campaign. In a joint petition, the associations are calling on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to advocate for an effective EU supply chain law.
“The EU can achieve great things and contribute to a fairer global economy – with a strong EU supply chain law that closes the loopholes in German law. But this is only possible with support from Germany! The governing coalition committed to an effective EU supply chain law in its coalition agreement. We expect the Chancellor to make this a top priority and to stand up for the environment and human rights, especially in times of crisis,” commented Johannes Heeg, spokesperson for the Supply Chain Law Initiative.
“Children and adults are exploited, especially at the beginning of supply chains – for example, in the extraction of raw materials: In India and Madagascar, 32,000 children mine the mineral mica, which then ends up in cars, electronics, and cosmetics. Therefore, an EU supply chain law must absolutely cover the entire value chain, without any distinctions or loopholes,” demands Barbara Küppers of terre des hommes .
“In light of the climate crisis, all areas of business activity must be scrutinized. An EU supply chain law is only appropriate if it includes strong environmental and climate due diligence obligations. Destructive megaprojects like the plans of the French oil giant Total for oil production in Uganda would then no longer be possible,” explains Ceren Yildiz from the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND).
“Too little has been done in the nine years since the collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factory. People continue to be harmed in the production of leather and shoes: just this past February, there were more fires in shoe factories in Turkey and Bangladesh. Those affected and their surviving relatives must have the opportunity to successfully claim compensation in court,” emphasizes Berndt Hinzmann of the INKOTA network.
In February, the European Commission presented a draft EU supply chain law, which, while going beyond the German law, nevertheless contained many loopholes, as numerous civil society organizations from Germany and Europe criticized. The European Council and the European Parliament must now take a position on the draft in the next stage of the process.
terre des hommes Germany, BUND and the INKOTA network are among the more than 130 human rights, development and environmental organizations, trade unions and church actors that have joined forces for the Supply Chain Act initiative.
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