Holding corporations to account is vital in times of ecological and epidemiological crisis. Join our discussion of the latest developments in corporate responsibility and environmental rights.
Chair
Richard Hermer, Alliance for Lawyers at Risk member and Corporate Accountability Expert at Matrix chambers (TBC)
Speakers
Richard Meeran, Leigh Day lawyer specialising in international claims, group actions and product liability
Frederick Mulder CBE, philanthropist and founder of the Frederick Mulder Foundation
Danilo Rueda, human rights defender at the Inter-Church Commission for Justice and Peace, Colombia (TBC)
Jani Silva, community leader and legal representative of the Amazon Integral Sustainable Development Association, Colombia (TBC)
08/07/2020 at 17:00 (GMT+1)
Corporations around the world are using the outbreak as an opportunity to ramp up their extractive practices and exploit the natural environment. Governments in Latin America have implemented policy measures that have privileged private sector interests in response to the crisis, benefiting the growth of agribusiness, extractivism, and hydroelectric projects.
Our partners have reported that measures are in fact worsening the current humanitarian and social crisis. Guaranteed access to public information on these concessions does not exist and affected indigenous peoples are unable to organise consultation actions within their communities.
Situations like these demand corporate responsibility. Join us to learn more about the vital work being done to hold companies to account around the world. We will hear from a selection of lawyers and campaigners including corporate accountability expert Richard Hermer, who will be leading the discussion. We will also be taking a forensic look at the situation for environmental rights in Colombia, with the help of human rights defenders Danilo Rueda and Jani Silva, both of whom have received countless threats and attacks for holding corporations to account for destroying the environment.
Philanthropist, art dealer and Picasso expert Frederick Mulder CBE will enlighten us on the importance of protecting future generations, and the responsibility of the international community to support environmental rights and their defenders. He will be launching the raffle of a unique Picasso linocut generously donated from his private collection in support of PBI UK's protection work for human rights defenders.
