SHOWS SOME FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN GERMANY STILL FINANCE COMPANIES THAT VIOLATE HUMANRIGHTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS WITH MORE THAN 31 BILLION EUROS.
This study uses a human rights framework to examine 14 funders on the German financial services market of corporate human rights abuses across the globe. Financial institutions play a central role in our economic system which puts corporate profits above the rights and welfare of people and the environment.
They invest in mining companies that violate
the rights of Indigenous Peoples, like Anglo American and HeidelbergCement, lend to European pesticide producers that sell their toxic products to countries with less stringent standards, such as Bayer and BASF, and facilitate the placement of bonds for arms companies profiting from the Yemen War that claimed the lives of more than 370 000 people, including Airbus, BAE and Raytheon. By financially supporting companies like the ones just mentioned, all of which have a record of human rights violations, without requiring compliance with the most basic human rights and environmental standards, these financial institutions are making money from the exploitation of people and the planet.
All 22 companies examined in this study are doing far too little to curb the human rights violations and pollution they cause and to take the necessary remedial action. At the same time, there are a number of authoritative and internationally agreed standards and conventions that financial institutions, corporations and governments must adhere to:
The Declaration of Human Rights is considered a milestone in human history. For over 70 years, every person, without exception, has enjoyed these rights and freedoms from birth to death – no matter where they were born, what religion or ethnicity they belong to, what language they speak or what their gender or color of skin. These rights are inherent to all human beings. They are universal and inalienable. But in reality, theory and practice diverge all too often.
More than a decade after the adoption of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), companies, including financial institutions, are still failing to meet their human rights obligations. While some corporations continually disregard the most basic rights of the communities in which they operate, banks and life insurers continue to recklessly pour money into them.
This report has been done by FacingFinance in colaboration with other organizations and networks, like Churches and Mining Network.
