Human rights should be a priority in oil, gas and mining industries, say speakers at ABA Midyear
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At a time when access to oil and gas is a primary concern throughout the world economy, there is a growing push to make sure that human rights are not sacrificed at the altar of commerce.
Speakers at a program held this afternoon as the 2015 ABA Midyear Meeting got underway in earnest said there have been significant efforts to respond to human rights violations in the oil and gas industry, along with mining, which together are known as the “extractives sector” of the economy. And those efforts could have an even more dramatic impact in the coming months as various efforts take hold.
“This is a year in which a perfect storm may converge on us,” said Motoko Aizawa, U.S. managing director for the Institute for Human Rights and Business, a think tank that works with private industries, governments and nongovernmental organizations on human rights issues. Aizawa chaired the Seminar on Human Rights Due Diligence in the Oil and Gas Sector that was held at the Houston offices of Baker & McKenzie. The firm is working on human rights issues with the government and private energy companies in Kenya.
One of the key triggers for the growing attention being given to human rights issues in the extractives sector is the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (PDF), which were written in 2011 and unanimously endorsed by the U.N. Human Rights Council. In the world of international law, the principles are known as “soft law” because they are primarily aspirational and do not carry the force of treaties, national laws or regulations. But measures such as the guiding principles often evolve into the type of customary law that eventually is seen as legal standards that governments and private interests are expected live up to.
“These aren’t just for corporate headquarters,” said Sarah Altschuller, who serves as counsel for the Corporate Social Responsibility Practice at Foley Hoag in Washington, D.C. The firm is secretariat for the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, which predate the U.N.’s guiding principles by more than a decade. “This is ultimately filtering down to the field, where operations can benefit from guidance.”
While the voluntary principles were initiated by the U.S. State Department and the British government’s foreign office specifically because of concerns that their “flag companies” in the extractives field were committing human rights violations that might undermine their “social license” to do business in various countries, the U.N. principles apply across the business spectrum. The principles were endorsed by the ABA House of Delegates in 2012, and the International Bar Association is drafting guidance for bar associations and business lawyers on how to follow them.
But companies working in the extractives sector have caused a series of human rights concerns due to the intrusive nature of their industries. Mining operations, pipelines and refining facilities can have a harsh effect on their surrounding environments and human communities. In many cases, companies and governments have done little to help populations relocate; supplies of necessary commodities like water have disappeared; and governments have taken brutal steps to quell protests against pipelines and other projects.
In many cases, said the program speakers, companies have responded positively to the initiatives to gain recognition for human rights concerns in the extractives sector, but she said that they should not have to bear the brunt of dealing with the issue on their own without significant government involvement. “This is not an effort to privatize” the issue, she said. “Human rights is still a primary government responsibility.”
