On October 21st, more than 200 people travelled across the UK to Westminster to demand a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act (BHREA) in the UK – a mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (mHREDD) law to prevent human rights abuses and environmental destruction in UK supply chains.
Hundreds of people took time out of their lives, rallying for justice in the rain, to demand change in the UK.
139 UK constituencies were represented by 217 people. 130 MPs were met with on the day, or had applications for meetings delivered by the green card process. We secured a further 10 MP pledge signatories following these encounters. Collectively, we made our message and our movement too loud to ignore.
The mass lobby was a clarion call for change. But we were joined in the call by other powerful voices. On the 20th October, major retailers and brands with a combined turnover of £130 billion — including Marks & Spencer, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Princes and John Lewis Partnership — joined civil society organisations and trade unions to write to the Prime Minister.
Their message? The UK needs an mHREDD law, grounded in the UN Guiding Principles and OECD Guidelines, rather than a patchwork of different rules that fail to align the UK and our businesses with European and global standards.
When we come together to demand it, change is possible
Two weeks after our mass lobby of Parliament, the Government announced that it will be introducing mandatory human rights due diligence legislation in the UK.
This is a colossal victory for people over profit. After years of campaigning for a change in the law, we're finally seeing the government act. This sends a strong signal that corporate impunity for the exploitation of workers and communities is coming to an end.
But there's a problem: the new law doesn’t include protection for the planet.
When forests are destroyed for palm oil plantations, communities are forced from their land. When factories pollute rivers, people lose access to clean water. Human rights abuses and environmental harm are inseparably interlinked.
We will continue to campaign for the protection of people and planet. We will continue to call for justice for workers, communities and the environment. And we will continue to ensure that human rights and the environment are recognised as inseparable, and both essential to protect.