Swedwatch - events

Corporate accountability for international crimes and the right to remedy

Swedwatch — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Time: Nov 25, 13:15 – 14:30 UTC
Location: Online

During the 13th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva, Nov 2024, Swedwatch arranged a hybrid event together with PAX.

It was an informal side event about frictions between the human rights responsibilities of companies under the UNGPs, the right to remedy for victims of gross human rights abuses, and the practice of holding corporations to account for international crimes through criminal justice.

In recent years, efforts to ensure criminal accountability of corporate actors for international atrocity crimes have increased. Criminal prosecution of corporate actors who have caused or contributed to gross human rights abuses and/or international atrocity crimes is considered an important facet of the access to remedy for victims. However, the practice of criminal prosecution of corporate actors is marred with obstacles to the realization of this right to remedy.

The panelists reflected on these tensions by diving into the landmark war crimes trial against former executives of Swedish oil company Lundin, as well as other cases.

Introduction and moderation
Anita Ramasastry, Henry M. Jackson Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law, and former Chair of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Speakers
Rev. James Ninrew Kuong Deng, Plaintiff in the Lundin war crimes trial and Chair of Leech Victims Voices, representing South Sudanese communities affected by war crimes

Tara Van Ho, Senior Lecturer at Essex Law School and Human Rights Centre

Olof Björnsson, Senior Researcher at Swedwatch, author of Fuel for Conflict about the role of institutional investors in the Lundin case

Egbert Wesselink, PAX, lead author of Unpaid Debt, The Legacy of Lundin, Petronas and OMV in Block 5A, Sudan 1997 - 2003

Link to watch the event:

Due diligence in the garment sector – public procurement as the missing multiplier for decent work?

Swedwatch — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 12:35:00 +0000

Time: Feb 19, 12:45 – 14:15 UTC
Location: Online

Join Swedwatch´s webinar on Due diligence in the garment sector – public procurement as the missing multiplier for decent work?

On Monday, February 19, 2024, Swedwatch is hosting a side session as part of the OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Garment and Footwear Sector 2024, Paris and online.

Public procurement has sometimes been described as ‘the missing multiplier’ for sustainable development. In OECD countries, public procurement represents around 12% of the total GDP, showing its significant purchasing power. While garments are important products for public authorities to procure to deliver quality services to their communities, reports of adverse human rights impacts in garment supply chains remain widespread. For example, wages earned in many garment-exporting countries persistently fall below a living wage, resulting in an ongoing struggle for the workers to make ends meet for their families.

This webinar will explore the role of public contracting authorities in closing the living wage gap and improving working conditions in global garment supply chains. By building on the experience of academics, public contracting authorities in Sweden and factory owners and workers in Bangladesh, the panel will discuss how public buyers can integrate and effectively monitor human rights due diligence requirements in their procurement practices and how governments can unlock the full potential of public procurers as actors for positive change.

Moderator of the session: Lena Diesing, Policy Analyst, OECD

Panellists:

Laura Trevino-Lozano, Researcher, University of Greenwich
Nazma Akter, Executive Director Awaj Foundation & President of the Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation
Nikolaj Villumsen, Member of the left group in the European Parliament - GUE/NGL
Pauline Göthberg, National Co-ordinator, Swedish Regions National Secretariat for Sustainable Public Procurement
Rubana Huq, Chairperson of Mohammadi Group & the immediate past President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association

Event at the 12th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva - Just Transition in Energy and Extractives Industries

Swedwatch — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 10:46:00 +0000

Time: Nov 27, 15:00 – 16:00 UTC
Location: Geneva and online

On the 27th of Nov 2023 Swedwatch co-organized an event that was part of the main sessions at the 12th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva.

The session was co-organized by the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, Fair Finance Asia, Permanent Mission of Switzerland, Australian Human Rights Institute at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Business and Human Rights Centre at the University of Geneva, and Swedwatch, with the support of the Danish Institute of Human Rights and the Office for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

The session consisted of two parts of dialogues with different speakers. The first dialogue provided an overview of key environmental and human rights challenges faced by rights holders in the processes of energy transition. It further provided insights on measures to protect both substantive and procedural rights of indigenous people and local communities.

The second dialogue sheded light on the important roles of states and business enterprises in applying a rights-based approach to the energy transition through examples of human rights and environmental due diligence practices that safeguard inclusive and just energy transition.

Link to the recording of the event

Read more about the event here:
https://forumbhr2023.sched.com...

Speakers:
Damilola Olawuyi
Chairperson, Working Group on business and human rights

Muhammad Al Amin
Executive Director, WALHI South Sulawesi

Alancay Morales Garro
Lead on Business and Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples Rights International

Joel Frijhoff
Sustainable Supply Chain Manager, Orsted

Innocence Ntap N’diaye
President, Haut Conseil du Dialogue Social du Sénégal

Justine Nolan
Director, Australian Institute for Human Rights, UNSW Sydney

Moderator:
Yayoi Fujita Lagerqvist
Program Officer, Swedwatch

More information about the event:
https://forumbhr2023.sched.com/event/1OrgH/just-transition-in-energy-and-extractives-industries?linkback=grid

Corporate restructuring vs right to remedy for victims in light of the ongoing Lundin war crimes trial - panel discussion during the 12th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva

Swedwatch — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 13:41:00 +0000

Time: Nov 28, 11:45 – 13:00 UTC
Location: Hybrid / Geneva and online

At Tue Nov 28, 2023 Swedwatch was co-hosting a live streamed event where a panel of experts discussed legal and ethical aspects of corporate restructuring and its impact on the right to remedy.

Questions addressed included whether a business breaches its human rights responsibility when it causes or contributes to the denial of remedies by another actor, and if it contributes to the denial of remedies through the acquisition of another business.

Discussions were build on the ongoing landmark Lundin war crimes trial, that began in September in Stockholm, where former Lundin Oil executives Ian Lundin and Alex Schneiter are accused of aiding and abetting war crimes during Sudan's 1997-2003 oil war. Victims of these crimes have yet to receive any form of redress.

Panelists:

Anita Ramasastry, University of Washington, former chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

Tara van Ho, University of Essex, business and human rights expert

Olof Björnsson, Swedwatch, author of "Fuel for Conflict" about the role of institutional investors in the Lundin case

Egbert Wesselink, PAX, lead author of the 2010 report "Unpaid Debt" that led to the judicial investigation

Moderator:

Salil Tripathi, senior advisor at the Institute for Human Rights and Business

Link to the event.

The event was organised by Swedwatch and PAX and took place during the 12th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva.

Swedwatch/EEB/ClientEarth webinar on Sustainable Public Procurement – identified barriers and the way forward

Swedwatch — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 10:07:00 +0000

Time: Nov 24, 10:00 – 12:00 UTC
Location: Online

Together with Client Earth and EEB (European Environmental Bureau), Swedwatch arranged a webinar on Sustainable Public Procurement on the 24th Nov 2023.

The webinar focused on practical experiences in Stockholm and Barcelona with regard to sustainable public procurement and addressed potential legal issues public buyers may encounter.

Two fundamental questions drove the discussion:

How to unleash the potential for sustainable public procurement by integrating both environmental and social dimensions?
Is the current European policy framework conducive for sustainable public procurement?

Agenda:
• Welcome remarks – ClientEarth, EEB and Swedwatch

• Different perspectives of challenges to achieving sustainable public procurement
1. Stockholm case study - Stockholm Regional Council: Linda Scott Jakobsson, Sustainability Strategist, Region Stockholm
2. Barcelona case study - City of Barcelona: Carla Canal Rosich, Policy Co ordinator, Directorate of Global Justice and International Cooperation
3. The Future of EU Public Procurement Law: What Needs to Change for Sustainability? Willem Janssen, Professor of Public Procurement Law, Utrecht University, Groningen University

• The discussion was led by moderator Sofia Käll, Programme Officer, responsilbe for Swedwatch´s work on public procurement

The 10th Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development: Financing and Safeguarding a Just Transition in Asia

Swedwatch — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 17:26:00 +0000

Time: Mar 23 00:00 UTC
Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Fair Finance Asia, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights (UNOHCHR), and Swedwatch together with Stockholm Environment Institute Asia organised a side event on 29 March 2023 in Bangkok Thailand, at the 10^th Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD): titled, "Financing and Safeguarding a Just Energy Transition in Asia: Trends and future pathways for a just and inclusive transition to a zero-carbon economy."

Through moderated dialogue, the event aimed to highlight the importance of duty bearers including States and business actors to adopt environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive energy transition in the Asia Pacific Region to meet the Paris Agreement target of limiting global temperature rise as well as achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The event was attended by representatives of States, civil society organisations, private sector, journalists, students, and other actors.

Participants:

-Dr. Pichamon Yeophanthong, the Chair of UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights
-Bernadette Victorio, Programme Lead, Oxfam/Fair Finance Asia
-Parimita Mohanty, Programme Manager, UNEP
-Thanida Laseriwanich, Senior Analyst, Bank of Thailand
-Pianporn Deetes, Regional Campaigns and Communications Director, International Rivers
-Katia Chirizzi, Deputy Representative of the UNOHCHR Regional Office for South-East Asia
-Yayoi Lagerqvist, facilitator, Program Officer, Swedwatch

Webinar: How can procurement contribute to reduced emissions from the pharma industry?

Swedwatch — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Time: Nov 25 00:00 UTC
Location:

In collaboration with the Swedish National Agency for Public Procurement, Swedwatch was arranging a series of webinars in the autumn of 2021 with the purpose of raising awareness among procurers on environmental and human rights risks in global supply chains. The third and last event, held on the 25th of Nov 2021, focused on the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and what procuring authorities can do to mitigate risks.