The Best of 2019

Rights and Wrongs - Amazon and New York: Lessons for the Extractive Sector

The unraveling of Amazon’s plans to set up its second headquarters at Long Island City in New York is a unique moment in the annals of corporate interface with communities opposed to their presence. 

In most instances, companies have won the...

Human Rights and the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative - A Conversation

Fiona Solomon is the CEO of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI), a multi-stakeholder initiative dedicated to creating a responsible aluminium value chain, from bauxite mines to computer cases.

She sat down with ASI Standards Committee...

Beyond a Simple Trading of Powers: An Alternative Future for the Global Mining Industry?

Observers of the mining industry, including those who are watching from the inside, have witnessed a growing demand for governments to safeguard people and the environment, and for business leaders to take greater responsibility in the prevention...

Home Government Incentives Toward Responsible Business Conduct

The ‘governance gap’- the gap between where law extends compared to where business activity goes - was a driving force behind the creation of the UN ‘Protect, Respect, Remedy’ Framework and Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UN Guiding...

Standing Rock Sioux - A Model for Protection of Planet and its People

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe met with representatives of Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) on October 30, 2014 and learned of their plans to build the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a 1,172 pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois that would carry...

From Deal Maker to Diplomat? Business and Human Rights Questions for Rex Tillerson

What does the nomination of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to be the next United States Secretary of State mean for the business and human rights agenda?

The selection of Mr. Tillerson is the latest move by a President-elect who campaigned on the...

Dakota Access Pipeline and the High Cost of Violating Indigenous Rights

Growing concern in the United States over the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) – a 1,172-mile, 30-inch diameter pipeline that will connect the Bakken and Three Forks production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois – has resulted in a...

The Infrastructure We Don’t Want - OECD Infrastructure Advice to the G20

This commentary was originally published on the Heinrich Böll Foundation website. 

As global growth has stalled over the last few years, the Group of 20 countries (G20) has made infrastructure investment a centerpiece of its policy work, expecting...

Alternative Mining Indaba - Meaningful Company-Community Dialogue Remains a Key Challenge

The 7^th annual Alternative Mining Indaba (AMI, Indaba meaning ‘conference’), hosted by the ecclesiastical Economic Justice Network, took place from 8-11 February 2016 in Cape Town, South Africa. The AMI has grown steadily since its inception in...

Settlement Involving Niger Delta Fishermen Leaves Shell More Exposed Than Ever

It is paradoxical that a court action taken against Shell by Niger Delta fishermen is likely to have greater consequences than a ground-breaking United Nations report. There has been no real progress since the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP)...

The Private Security Industry and Human Rights: An update on the ICoCA

Much of the press coverage concerning the recent criminal conviction of four former Blackwater security guards in a United States District Court has focused on the difficulty and length of time it took for the case to finally work its way through...