9 April 2025 - unofficial English translation by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

"Civil society organisations from multiple countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, grouped as the Latin American Civil Society Platform on Business and Human Rights, are meeting on the occasion of the IX United Nations Regional Forum on Business and Human Rights in São Paulo, to share our experience working on the impacts of business on human rights and to formulate collective strategies to ensure their full compliance.

"This Forum is taking place at a critical moment for humanity, characterised by the persistence of armed conflicts, the severity of climate change, the illegal occupation of territories on the basis of genocides, the curtailment of freedoms and persistent social inequalities, fed by the rise of supremacist, negationist, conservative and recently protectionist governments, which threaten to block and regress the few, but ultimately important advances in political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights achieved in recent decades.

...

"Considering the aspects previously addressed, the undersigned organisations declare and recommend:

I. It is imperative to advance towards a new paradigm of growth and development that puts respect for and compliance with human and environmental rights first, based on the priorities of communities, considered - from our space of articulation - as the only viable option if we want to move as humanity towards scenarios of peaceful coexistence among States, peoples and territories, to put a stop to the environmental, economic, social and cultural catastrophe to which we are heading under the current global economic model, which is responsible for the serious effects suffered by communities and indigenous peoples, workers, small producers, ethnic minorities and sexual and gender diversities, etc.

II. States - in consultation with civil society and rights holders - should incorporate as part of their objectives and government plans the approval of regulatory frameworks on Business and Human Rights and Due Diligence that incorporate the Guiding Principles and Due Diligence in an exhaustive and binding manner, providing institutional and financial resources for their practical and sustainable implementation.

III. States must ensure, through effective regulatory frameworks and public policies, that companies and financial institutions working under the umbrella of the "energy transition" respect environmental and human rights, in particular those of women, peoples and communities that live in, around or depend on the same ecosystems and water resources at the sites of exploration, exploitation and related activities. It is essential to put people at the centre, guaranteeing rights in the face of increased demand for minerals for the energy transition or the impacts of hydrocarbon activities, through business models that ensure shared prosperity and decent labour rights throughout the value chain.

IV. Businesses should refrain from violating human and environmental rights. At the same time, they should adopt measures to prevent any form of human rights violations and promote people-centred due diligence processes in their risk management. They must also guarantee consent processes and, where appropriate, free, prior and informed consultation for Indigenous Peoples and communities affected by the energy transition, avoiding imposing projects without their consent and ensuring fair negotiations and mechanisms for access to justice and reparation for any damage caused. Companies must guarantee full, effective and expeditious reparation for damage caused to the environment and human rights at a proportional level.

V. Businesses should refrain from obstructing the work of human rights defenders, including leaders of Indigenous, Afro-descendant and rural communities, traditional communities and trade unions.

VI. States that have not yet done so should ratify the Escazú Agreement and, in addition, develop and implement, with sufficient resources, laws and policies to guarantee an enabling and safe environment for the defence of human rights, including the recognition and strengthening of the various community self-protection systems that exist in the region. In addition, States must guarantee the implementation of effective social and labour protection mechanisms for workers and communities affected by corporate activities, ensuring that the energy transition does not generate further precariousness or rights violations.

VII. Financial actors involved in sustainable finance instruments must guarantee respect for human and environmental rights, so that sustainable finance, in particular those accounted for GHG reduction, do not hide violations (such as slave labour, child labour, destruction of ecosystems or massive pollution resulting in a series of diseases for affected communities). They must also ensure that the human rights information provided by their clients is correct, verified on the ground with civil society organisations or directly affected communities.

VIII. States must regulate, monitor and sanction financial institutions if they fail to comply with their responsibility to respect human rights; in particular, their responsibility to refrain from financing business projects that violate human, labour and environmental rights, preventing and detecting illicit flows from forced labour, human trafficking, slavery, environmental and territorial destruction, etc. It is imperative to eradicate ineffective auditing and control practices, including greenwashing practices, and to consider sanctioning them. We call for the implementation of confiscation, seizure and forfeiture of illicit assets and thereby prioritise remediation for victims.

IX. States in the region, especially those with shared borders and plagued by the advance of illegal economies (such as gold mining), should establish a coordinated strategy to control the trafficking of minerals, fuels, machinery, mercury and other inputs, adopting a common and articulated policy to prevent the laundering and free export of gold. This strategy should address the difference between formal, illegal, criminal markets and the artisanal economy that is practised by Indigenous Peoples and peasant communities, threatened by the extraction of resources for trafficking and organised crime.

X. The increasing interaction between business activities, illegal economies and organised violent groups in sectors such as mining, agribusiness and the timber trade requires the development, approval and implementation of mandatory traceability mechanisms in high-risk supply chains, accompanied by specific protocols for the prevention of environmental crimes, money laundering and human rights violations.

XI. These mechanisms must ensure transparency, auditability and accessibility of information throughout the value chain. They should also incorporate enhanced due diligence standards in contexts of high conflict, in order to prevent any direct or indirect contribution to illicit economies or dynamics of violence.

XII. We recognise the urgency of the energy transition as a response to the climate crisis, but we caution that this cannot be implemented at the expense of workers' and communities' rights or while maintaining unaltered climate justice gaps. In this sense, we denounce the persistence of a ‘green’ extractivism that reproduces the colonialist and patriarchal logic, deepening inequalities and socio-environmental conflicts in our countries. Trade unions, together with communities and other civil society organisations, must assume a leading role in the defence of labour rights, the right to a healthy environment and social justice in the framework of a just energy transition, demanding development models that prioritise the creation of decent employment, effective participation and the equitable distribution of costs and benefits.

XIII. States should commit to the discussion of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises with Respect for Human Rights for the construction of an internationally binding legal instrument on Business and Human Rights at the United Nations. The regional commitment is very important for the instrument to reflect the Inter-American Human Rights System and the progress already achieved by Latin American countries. Furthermore, a treaty in this area is extremely important for the regulation to take into account the complexity of global production chains and the need to establish extraterritoriality mechanisms that avoid corporate impunity and prevent violations committed against human rights and the environment from going unremedied in our territories. The voices of affected communities and populations must be the basis for its construction.

XIV. Businesses should broaden their commitment to gender equality and sexual diversity beyond the workplace, integrating an intersectional approach in all dimensions of their social impact. This includes eradicating internal discrimination with clear policies, real inclusion training and grievance mechanisms, but also due diligence on LGBTIQ+ rights and rethinking their external impact. Their products, services and marketing strategies must break down harmful stereotypes, avoid pinkwashing. Instead, they should support community initiatives, combat hate speech and promote public policies that protect human rights, even in the face of political backlash.