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Human Rights Due Diligence in the Downstream Context: A Comprehensive Approach

A recent study by the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights (GBI) has highlighted the need for companies to consider human rights risks downstream, beyond their immediate supply chain. The report emphasizes that human rights due diligence (HRDD) is crucial in the downstream context, where companies can cause or contribute to adverse human rights impacts.

Importance of HRDD Downstream

The GBI’s findings are significant, as they demonstrate that companies can and do conduct HRDD on risks downstream in their value chains. This is consistent with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), which call on companies to seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products, or services.

Key Takeaways for Effective HRDD Downstream

To conduct effective HRDD downstream, companies should:

• Proactive identification and assessment of human rights risks: Identify and assess potential human rights risks in their downstream value chain, even if they have not contributed to those impacts.
• Integration of human rights considerations into business operations: Integrate human rights considerations into areas such as product design and early negotiations with suppliers or partners.
• Establishment of clear governance structures: Establish clear governance structures, such as a dedicated team and board, to review transactions and escalate sensitive matters for review.
• Empowerment of sales teams: Empower sales teams to identify and address potential human rights risks in their downstream value chain.
• Training for end-users: Provide training to end-users on the importance of human rights and how they can contribute to preventing or mitigating adverse impacts.

Conclusion

The report’s findings are timely, as recent settlements and cases demonstrate that companies can be held accountable for downstream human rights impacts, regardless of their actual knowledge of the potential risks. Proactive identification and assessment of human rights risks downstream, together with measures to prevent and mitigate them, are therefore crucial.

By integrating human rights considerations into their business operations and establishing clear governance structures, companies can proactively identify and address potential human rights risks downstream.

Competing Interest

• Both authors are employees of the Global Business Initiative on Human Rights Ltd. J.R. is a legal director of the company.

Financial Support

• The authors do not report receipt of any funding for this work.