Forward, not Backward on Conflict Minerals and Human Rights
Section 1502 of the Dodd Frank Act, has helped to shed light on global supply chains, helping investors understand whether their investments are fueling human rights abuse in the DRC. Now is NOT the time to defund the conflict minerals rule, but to build on it.
We must tell members of Congress who want to defund Section 1502: We want to go forward, not backward.
- When they called a hearing in December, their own expert witness, Jeff Schwartz, instead of testifying against 1502 actually recognized the success of the private-sector driven Conflict Free Sourcing Initiative, called for closing loopholes and better enforcement of Section 1502, and argued for strengthening rather than repealing the reporting requirement.
- Per-Olof Loof, the CEO of KEMET Corporation, testified that the law had brought about positive outcomes for both business and society.
- Responsible Sourcing Network submitted a letter reiterating the importance of Section 1502 to major SRI investors.
Ongoing efforts to defund Section 1502 disregard the evidence that Section 1502 is highly valuable to investors, and a critical part of disrupting human rights abuses around the world.
- Human rights reporting is getting more important, not less. In 2015 the assets under management of investors that signed the UN Principles for Responsible Investing surpassed $59 trillion.
- Investors are looking at a widening umbrella of human rights issues: from child labor in the mining of Cobalt in the Congo, to the 21 million people in forced labor around the world generating $150 billion in illegal profits .
- Leading companies understand that disrupting conflict is good business. Their efforts are contributing to change in the region.
As investors and consumers, we must tell Congress we want to go forward, not backward, on human rights due diligence.
Do your part for a more peaceful, prosperous world and call one or more of the following members of Congress who will vote TODAY on defunding 1502 and tell them NO to defunding 1502, and YES to guidance and oversight on human rights risk in investment decisions.
You can use this link to find your member’s twitter handle. Here are sample tweets you can use to tweet at members of Congress:
.@[insert representatives’ twitter handle here] #conflictminerals rule reduced $ to armed groups in DRC & improves transparency. Vote NO on Huizenga’s amendment to HR 5485