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Charity Ryerson
A New Global Minimum Tax on Corporations and ...

This year, states will begin implementing a global minimum tax rate of fifteen percent on multinational corporations with more than €750 million (about $810 million) in revenues. If these tax reforms succeed in increasing tax revenues across the approximately 140 implementing countries as they intend, these additional funds could be used to advance the social and economic rights of their citizens, especially for the most vulnerable populations, including those whose rights have been abused by corporations historically. However, the coming tax reforms are still so riddled with gray areas regarding form and function that it is too early to call the initiative a victory in corporate accountability.  

A New Global Minimum Tax on Corporations and Human Rights Implications
Main, Blog
Charity Ryerson
Un año desde la prohibición del azúcar del ...

Durante los 365 días desde que se bloqueó la entrada de su azúcar a los Estados Unidos por trabajo forzoso, el Central Romana ha optado por implementar sólo cambios superficiales para los cañeros y utilizar estrategias políticas en un aparente intento de hacer desaparecer la WRO.

Un año desde la prohibición del azúcar del Central Romana en mercado EEUU por trabajo forzoso
Blog, Main
Charity Ryerson
One year since Central Romana sugar banned from ...

Over the 365 days since its sugar was blocked from entering the United States, Central Romana has chosen to implement only superficial changes for workers while pulling political strings in an apparent effort to make the import ban disappear. 

One year since Central Romana sugar banned from US market for forced labor
Avery Kelly
Enbridge and the Dangers of Extractive ...

Last month, The Guardian revealed that Canadian pipeline company Enbridge has paid Minnesota police more than two and a half million dollars for services including the surveillance and arrest of Water Protectors resisting the company’s construction of a new Line 3 pipeline. This post situates the Enbridge-police agreement in Minnesota and violent crackdown against Water Protectors at Line 3 within a disturbing global context rooted in colonialism.

Enbridge and the Dangers of Extractive Industry-Police Alliances
Main
Avery Kelly
CAL & EarthRights Launch Updated Guide to ...

In 2019, CAL partnered with EarthRights International to update their Guide to the Foreign Legal Assistance statute. Given that the US is an increasingly difficult jurisdiction for transnational human rights cases against companies, this tool provides an opportunity for workers and community members to access key evidence located in the US even where they may not have been able to bring suit there. 

CAL & EarthRights Launch Updated Guide to Foreign Legal Assistance Statute, Allowing Attorneys Suing Companies Access to Discovery Process in the US

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Shell Agrees to Pay $15 million Euros to Nigerian Farmers and Fishermen

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Shell Agrees to Pay $15 million Euros to Nigerian Farmers and Fishermen

For decades, Shell allowed oil to leak into the Niger Delta, destroying fields, making water undrinkable, and harming local populations. Over the years, there have been numerous cases filed against Shell, related to different aspects of Shell’s destruction of the Niger Delta and associated human rights abuses. (See here, here, and here.)  In December 2022, Shell settled one of these cases – for 15 million Euros – after a Dutch appeals court ordered the company to compensate victims harmed by Shell’s subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC). This blog post first describes the environmental and human rights abuses Shell has caused in the Niger Delta. It then explains Shell’s settlement and discusses the importance of this historic case and the settlement.

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Certification Schemes: Why Fairtrade International, Rainforest Alliance and Others are Failing Workers and Consumers

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Certification Schemes: Why Fairtrade International, Rainforest Alliance and Others are Failing Workers and Consumers

These days, if you go into a grocery store, there are numerous labels on food products touting how ethical and sustainable the product is. Yet these certification labels often misrepresent the labor and environmental standards used to produce these products. Certification schemes, such as Fairtrade International, were initially developed to provide workers – often farm workers in rural areas – with increased income, better working conditions, and a steady stream of buyers. Moreover, they signaled to consumers that the products were produced sustainably, without exploiting workers, children, or the environment. 

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DOJ settlements and fines against Glencore and Lafarge won’t compensate victims of bribery practices and terrorist financing abroad, but it’s a start

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DOJ settlements and fines against Glencore and Lafarge won’t compensate victims of bribery practices and terrorist financing abroad, but it’s a start

Last month, Glencore and Lafarge, two well-known multinationals, made international headlines after their guilty pleas for criminal conduct abroad led to multimillion dollar settlements and gave rise to civil claims. This post discusses the Glencore and Lafarge cases and their recent guilty pleas for bribery and for financing foreign terrorist organizations, respectively. These cases are discussed through the lens of the DOJ’s new strategy to prosecute corporate misconduct. This blog considers how these cases could be a starting point for corporate accountability and access to remedy, rather than as the gold standard.

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Two Years On: Corporate Power Yields to Nothing, Not Even Democracy

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Two Years On: Corporate Power Yields to Nothing, Not Even Democracy

Two years ago, US democracy was threatened when election-denying citizens and militias stormed the US Capitol, demanding that federal representatives overturn the results of a valid election. This insurrection, while ultimately unsuccessful, cost lives and called into stark question the future of American democratic institutions. In the wake of this deadly attack, companies across the United States, including many of the largest, pledged not to support members of Congress who fueled the insurrection and voted — in the early morning of January 7, 2021, mere hours after Capitol windows were smashed and Capitol police were beaten — to abandon the winner of an election that was unambiguously fair and free.

A year ago today, on the first anniversary of this anti-democratic attack, we wrote about the scores of Fortune 500 companies that funded election-denying members of Congress, even after making — and, no doubt, profiting from — public vows not to. At that time, we said that better politics and stronger democratic institutions depended on reimagining corporate power. Consider this our progress report.

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