No effect without liability

Protest for transparency and respect for human rights in supply chains on the occasion of the BASF AGM 2020

For too long, companies such as BASF have been half-heartedly complying with their human rights due diligence, because they did not have to fear any consequences. Now various initiatives for legal regulation at international, European and national level are entering decisive phases. The question of liability will show whether companies or civil society have been able to enforce their demands.

The German-African Business Association knows exactly which German ministry is best placed to assert its interests. It is not the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (AA) – which might be obvious for a foreign trade association –, but the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi). Weiterlesen

Permanent link to this article: https://www.kritischeaktionaere.de/en/campaign-plough-back-the-fruits/no-effect-without-liability/

Countermotions by Jürgen Grässlin

Regarding item 3 on the agenda:
The members of the executive board are not discharged.

Substantiation:

The Executive Board of Heckler & Koch AG had originally assured us shareholders and the public that the »Green Country Strategy« would be consistently adhered to in arms exports. Only »the good guys« in NATO states, NATO-associated states or EU states would be supplied with small arms.

This was confirmed after CDE under Nicolas Walewski recently took over the share package of the previous majority shareholder Andreas Heeschen. A press released by H&K on 17 July 2020 stated that the company still stands by the »Green Country Strategy«. Weiterlesen

Permanent link to this article: https://www.kritischeaktionaere.de/en/heckler-koch-en/countermotions-by-juergen-graesslin/

For corporations like BASF, a supply chain law is needed

Protests on the occasion the Annual General Meeting on 18 June

“Transparency and human rights in the BASF supply chain – Now!”
Protest in Ludwigshafen, Germany in the run-up to the BASF AGM 2020

Ludwigshafen, Heidelberg, Cologne, Hamburg, Johannesburg, Berlin – This year’s virtual Annual Meeting of BASF on June 18 will be accompanied by protests outside the company’s headquarters in Ludwigshafen and online. The international network Plough Back the Fruits is calling for a binding supply chain law that will finally get companies like BASF to address human rights violations in their global supply chains. In view of the Corona pandemic, the network is asking BASF to forego the payment of a dividend. Weiterlesen

Permanent link to this article: https://www.kritischeaktionaere.de/en/basf-se/for-corporations-like-basf-a-supply-chain-law-is-needed/

Countermotions

Re agenda item 2: Adoption of a resolution on the appropriation of profit

The Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany proposes that no dividend be distributed. Instead, the entire profit retained for 2019 is to be used as a provision for

  • for a fund to combat the corona pandemic and mitigate its economic consequences
  • for the creation of added value for society;
  • for maintaining jobs instead of reducing them;
  • for the establishment of a fund to compensate the widows, survivors and injured in the Marikana massacre

Rationale:

In the middle of the corona crisis, which is accompanied by great uncertainty for the economy and society, BASF SE wants to increase the dividend from 3.20 to 3.30 euros per share. Weiterlesen

Permanent link to this article: https://www.kritischeaktionaere.de/en/basf-se/countermotions/

Support for climate and environmental offenders: our countermotion

Re Agenda Item 2

The Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany proposes that ratification of the acts of manage-ment of the Management Board be refused.

Reasons

The Management Board of Deutsche Bank has failed to adequately meet its responsibility to implement more effective measures to tackle climate change and satisfy its human rights due diligence It is not enough to merely formally commit to the objectives of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the UN Global Compact.

Disregard for UN principles for human rights due diligence

Deutsche Bank continues to fail to fully apply the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) in its business conduct. Weiterlesen

Permanent link to this article: https://www.kritischeaktionaere.de/en/deutsche-bank/support-for-climate-and-environmental-offenders-our-countermotion/

Countermotion

Uniper’s Power station Staudinger. Photo: Philipp Wedel CC BY-SA 3.0

Re agenda item 5: Resolution on the discharge of the members of Uniper SE’s Management Board for financial year 2019

Ethical Shareholders Germany moves not to discharge the members of the Management Board.

Reasons:
The Management Board of Uniper SE does not meet the requirements of the Paris Climate Change Convention and the UN’s guiding principles for business and human rights. Uniper’s central business model, power generation using the fossil fuels coal and gas, makes a decisive contribution to climate change.

Datteln IV: Adherence to power plant highlights problems of relying on coal-fired power generation

In order to still get the Datteln IV coal-fired power plant on the grid despite the coal phase-out, Uniper has offered to shut down its remaining coal-fired power plant units. Weiterlesen

Permanent link to this article: https://www.kritischeaktionaere.de/en/uniper-2/countermotion/

Pesticides, Cancer, double standards, and what Bayer has to do with the Amazon‘s rainforest fires

by Christian Russau, human rights activist and board member of Ethical Shareholders Germany

Foto: Rafi Bablan, CC BY 2.5

As Bayer takes advantages of the new german shareholder participation laws in times of Corona‘s social distancing, for us, who we are human rights activists, this year it is not possible to take an active part in Bayer‘s AGM to criticize Bayer‘s directory board directly as we did the last decades. But, nonetheless our critic is more important than ever. So, here we go:

Bayer sells pesticides in Brazil that are banned in the EU. I took two investigations, one in 2016 and a second one in 2019. Weiterlesen

Permanent link to this article: https://www.kritischeaktionaere.de/en/bayer-en/pesticides-cancer-double-standards-and-what-bayer-has-to-do-with-the-amazons-rainforest-fires/

Civil society calls for transparency on the companies subjected to the European Union’s Regulation on the supply of 3TG minerals

Press Release of 28 civil society organizations, including Ethical Shareholders Germany

The EU Regulation on the responsible supply of tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold (3TG) from conflict-affected and high-risk areas (CAHRA) is a crucial first step towards supply chains free from human rights abuse. The EU Regulation on the responsible supply of tin, tungsten, tantalum and gold (3TG) from conflict-affected and high-risk areas (CAHRA) was approved in 2017 and will enter into force in 2021. Before this date, the EU member states need to adopt measures to ensure the implementation of the Regulation. However, the first implementation measures being discussed by member states risk diluting the efficacy of the Regulation by concealing the list of companies subjected to it. Weiterlesen

Permanent link to this article: https://www.kritischeaktionaere.de/en/press-release/civil-society-calls-for-transparency-on-the-companies-subjected-to-the-european-unions-regulation-on-the-supply-of-3tg-minerals/