Holding businesses to account on human rights

All companies have a responsibility to respect human rights in their operations, regardless of the sector, country or context in which they operate.

Our work aims to challenge those companies whose work leads directly to human rights abuses. This is an increasing threat in a globalised world, where transnational companies are not necessarily bound by the legislation of the companies they operate in. There are very few effective mechanisms at national or international level that stop corporations committing human rights violations, or hold them to account afterwards.

Our work aims to strengthen law at national and international level, to ensure that companies are accountable for the human rights impacts of their operations.

Shell

For a company whose logo is the shell of a giant clam, a marine and freshwater creature millions of years old, it's ironic that Royal Dutch Shell is so cavalier about the pollution of watercourses that its operations frequently cause.

In the Niger Delta in Nigeria, Shell's half-century of oil extraction has poisoned rivers, mangrove swamps and farming lands, and impoverished whole communities that depend on these natural resources for their survival.

This is a David and Goliath struggle for justice by poor people who've had their lives and livelihoods turned upside down by one of the world's biggest multinational companies.