CAFOD to join mass lobby of Parliament calling for laws to end corporate harm

Houses of Parliament. Image: ICN/JS

Source: CAFOD

People from across the UK will be taking part in the Good Business Matters mass lobby of Parliament today, Wednesday 21 October, to push for new legislation to end corporate harm.

More than 50 businesses - including Sainsbury's, Primark and ASOS, together with campaign groups and concerned members of the public are backing the call for a new Business, Human Rights and Environment Act, along with over 90 MPs and Peers, supporting new legislation to level the playing field.

Hundreds of participants are travelling to Westminster to meet with their local MP(s) and call for the change, which is backed by over 80% of the public .

Lucy Brill, CAFOD's Private Sector Policy Lead, who attending the lobby, said: "The UK urgently needs stronger laws to hold corporations accountable for human rights abuses and environmental destruction linked to their global supply chains. For too long, companies have been able to turn a blind eye to the harm caused by their operations.

"Today, CAFOD is joining the Corporate Justice Coalition, Friends of the Earth and other campaign groups in Westminster to demand the government introduce a long-overdue Business, Human Rights and Environment Act, requiring companies to prevent harm and holding them to account when they fail.

"As a faith-based organisation, we stand in solidarity with communities around the world whose lives, livelihoods and environments are being damaged by reckless business practices, notably in the mining of essential critical minerals."

Anne, a CAFOD volunteer travelling down from the Wirral in Merseyside, said: "We have all been concerned about water pollution at home and on our beaches and further afield with deforestation overseas, where UK companies have been getting off scot-free for driving harm to people and the planet.

"When corporations pollute and trash the environment it's not just our natural world that takes a hit - it's the communities who live there that also pay the price. That's why we're urging Angela Eagle MP to pledge her support for a new Business, Human Rights and Environment Act. This would put an end to the impunity companies have enjoyed for too long, and ensure they're finally held to account for the damage they cause."

Coordinated by the Corporate Justice Coalition - an alliance of 70 partner organisations including the likes of CAFOD, Friends of the Earth, ActionAid and the TUC - it's hoped the day of action will help to build support for a long-overdue UK Business, Human Rights and Environment Act.

The event comes as two government reviews that could recommend such legislation are soon expected to be published (see notes for more detail).

Right now, too many UK businesses are failing to act responsibly when it comes to preventing harm in their global supply chains, at a cost to people and the planet. This is the case both here in the UK and overseas - whether they're linked to activities that are polluting the environment, fuelling deforestation, subjecting workers to exploitative labour practices or driving communities from their land.

So far, more than 90 MPs and Peers have signed the Good Business Matters pledge, 50 leading businesses - including Sainsbury's, Primark and ASOS - support new legislation to level the playing field, and over 80% of the public say they would back such a law. It's hoped the mass lobby will galvanise support for stronger legislation and compel the government to act.

Participants in the mass lobby will also be joined by speakers from communities around the globe who have been affected by corporate harm - from those facing conflicts over land and water due to encroaching soy plantations in Brazil, to Indigenous communities defending their way of life against precious metals mining in Guatemala, amid some of the highest rates of killings of environmental defenders in the world.

LINKS

Good Business Matters Mass Lobby: www.goodbusinessmatters.org/masslobby

Good Business Matters Pledge: www.goodbusinessmatters.org/decision-makers