Lobby for a Commission for Business, Human Rights and the Environment

Tourism Concern and CORE – the Corporate Responsibility Coalition, are campaigning for the establishment of a UK Commission for Business, Human Rights and the Environment.

Need for the Commission

The UK outbound tourism industry remains largely unregulated. Instead of legally binding rules, the government depends heavily upon voluntary corporate initiatives to address human rights violations in tourism supply chains and linked to tourism activities.

This means that companies complicit in human rights violations are rarely held to account. It remains difficult for victims of corporate human rights abuse to access justice and obtain remedies.

Help us make the Commission a reality!

The UK parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights has endorsed the idea of a Commission. In January 2011, CORE helped to set up an All Party Parliamentary Group on Business and Human Rights to build support for a Commission within Parliament.

We need your support!

Write to the Minister for Justice asking him to establish a Commission for Business, Human Rights and the Environment today.

Download sample letter for email or post here

The more you can personalise your letter, the better.

Let us know if you are taking part. Tourism Concern would be interested in receiving a copy of any response you receive. Email campaigns@tourismconcern.org.uk

How a Commission would work

The Commission would:

• Provide guidance on the human rights responsibilities of the UK tourism industry and other British companies operating overseas
• Investigate human rights abuses committed by or linked to UK companies
• Allow victims to seek redress
• Collaborate with similar bodies overseas to build capacity and learning

The Commission proposal reflects the new UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, established by Professor John Ruggie, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on human rights and transnational corporations. The UN Guiding Principles sets out the need for governments to protect against human rights infringements linked to business activities, and to provide access to remedy for victims of corporate abuse, even when this is committed by businesses operating overseas.

The UN Guiding Principles also clarify the business responsibility to respect human rights. This means that businesses must ensure their activities, including throughout supply chains, do not infringe upon the rights of others. Read our industry briefing - Why the tourism industry needs to take a human rights approach

For example, this would include ensuring that land used to develop a hotel was acquired with the free, prior and informed consent of the local communities; that hotel operations are not undermining local peoples’ right to water; and that working conditions meet International Labour Organization standards.

There is a strong need for the UK government to provide clear guidance to UK companies operating overseas, including tourism enterprises, on their responsibilities in this regard. The Commission could be an ideal channel for such an undertaking.

For more about the need for a Commission, download the CORE briefing or visit the CORE website.