Energy transition should not replicate or create new violations of human rights and environmental abuses: UN experts

NEW YORK (13 October 2023) – UN experts today presented a report that urged States and business to seize the ongoing energy transition as an opportunity to ensure that the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals and the implementation of the Paris Agreement includes guarantees of human rights protection.

“Policy coherence is key to advance a just transition” said Damilola Olawuyi, Chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights. “To advance policy coherence, energy, environmental and investment policies must be collaboratively developed and implemented in a manner that protects, respects and promotes all human rights, including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment,” he said.

The Working Group noted that businesses, especially those in the extractive sector, should ensure human rights are respected across their business relationships, and put prevention at the heart of the design and implementation of energy transition plans and programmes. “Civil society and impacted communities, including Indigenous Peoples and human rights defenders, play a critical role and their meaningful participation should be guaranteed in the efforts implemented by businesses and investors to identify, prevent and address human rights risks,” Olawuyi said.

A just transition requires systemic changes that promote sustainable consumption patterns, foster equitable access to clean energy, and prioritise the well-being of both people and the planet with full regard to international human rights law and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
“However, if the just transition concept is used to delay change, the 1.5 °C target will not be met, which will exacerbate adverse human rights impacts,” the experts said.

The Working Group’s report contains recommendations for States, businesses and other stakeholders with regard to ensuring a just transition, and builds on their Information Note on Climate Change and the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

ENDS

The Working Group on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises was established by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011. Its current members are: Mr. Damilola Olawuyi (Chairperson), Mr. Robert McCorquodale (Vice-Chairperson), Ms. Pichamon Yeophantong, Ms. Fernanda Hopenhaym, and Ms. Elżbieta Karska.

The Working Group is part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent human rights monitoring mechanisms. The Working Group reports to the Human Rights Council and to the UN General Assembly. Special Procedures mandate-holders are independent human rights experts appointed by the Human Rights Council to address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. The experts are not UN staff and are independent from any government or organization. They serve in their individual capacity and do not receive a salary for their work.

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, unanimously endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2011 (resolution 17/4), provide the authoritative global standard for action to safeguard human rights in a business context, clarifying what is expected by governments and companies to prevent and address impacts on human rights arising from business activity.