Written statement by Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST) today unveils plans for new UK corporate accountability legislation, but omits environment from the framework
London, 4 November 2026: The Corporate Justice Coalition (CJC) welcomes the Government’s plans to introduce mandatory human rights due diligence legislation as a major step forward for corporate accountability in the UK, but notes with concern the significant omission of the environment in the framework proposed by the Secretary of State for BIST.
The Corporate Justice Coalition (CJC) is the civil society coalition behind the longstanding campaign for the UK to introduce a Mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (mHREDD) law. CJC welcomes the announcement of new legislation after years of consistent campaigning, and the impact it promises for workers and communities.
The Government’s announcement follows a mass lobby of Parliament in October, in which more than 200 people from across the UK lobbied their constituency MPs in Parliament in support of a new mHREDD law. It also responds to the demands of the public and 100 MPs and Peers.
However, CJC notes that human rights and the environment are intrinsically linked, and the environment forms a core part of the international standards the UK aims to align itself with as well as equivalent existing EU legislation. The failure to include the environment in the newly announced legislation does not align with the joint call for new legislation by major UK businesses and civil society in late October – and leaves behind the communities struggling with the pollution, environmental destruction and biodiversity loss caused by irresponsible business activity, which affects lives and livelihoods.
Eleanor Rosenbach, CJC’s Co-Director said:
“The announcement today sends a strong message: corporate impunity is coming to an end. Following years of campaigning for mHREDD legislation, we welcome this landmark step for the UK, and for victims of corporate harm.
But you cannot protect people without also protecting the planet. The UK has the opportunity to develop a law which aligns with the EU – as businesses want – and protects our environment and our human rights with robust enforcement and a duty to prevent harm. There is already a proposal for model legislation in the Lords as the Private Members Bill COPAD – and we look forward to working with the Government to ensure victims finally get access to justice.”
CJC also notes with concern that the new law would apply only to UK businesses making £350 million in annual turnover. Many businesses in the UK would be excluded from this threshold, which is set far above those in the existing Modern Slavery Act (£36 million) and the Economic Crimes and Corporate Transparency Act (£36 million). Neither does it include the public sector. An effective due diligence law must, align with these current legal thresholds, as the public sector and businesses of all sizes must respect human rights and the environment.
Friends of the Earth’s Corporate Accountability Campaigner, Clare Oxborrow, said:
“For too long, unscrupulous companies have been able to profit at the expense of our climate, precious forests and the communities and wildlife that depend on them. Corporate harms to people and the environment often go hand-in-hand – from communities forced off their land as forests are destroyed for palm oil, to those unable to source clean water as rivers are polluted.
“The government’s proposed new legislation completely ignores this fact, and that protecting the environment should be a core tenet of ensuring UK businesses operate responsibly. There is overwhelming support from the public, businesses and 100 MPs and peers for strong legislation addressing human rights and environmental harms together – anything less lets those fuelling environmental destruction off the hook.”
Lorcán Jackson-McLaughlin, Public Affairs Officer at Anti-Slavery International, said:
“The UK is inundated with products linked to modern slavery, and until now, too little has been done to achieve justice for the millions of people trapped in forced labour and modern slavery.
Anti-Slavery International welcomes the Government’s recognition that the current legal framework is failing and its commitment to new mandatory human rights due diligence legislation. We urge the government to ensure a new law which enables access to justice for the many victims of corporate harm and applies the failure to prevent mechanism. We stand ready to work with Government to ensure that any new legislation is robust, victim-centred, and enforceable.”
It also goes some ways to addressing the findings of a recent Fabian Society report into the costs of corporate harm to human rights and the environment, which found that the cost of mHREDD legislation is less than a tenth of the current economic burden of corporate harm.
Now, CJC calls on the Government to publish the Responsible Business Conduct Review in full, and engage openly and transparently with civil society and those impacted by corporate harm in the development of this legislation, and to ensure a joined-up, cross-departmental approach that delivers accountability, multi-tiered liability and access to remedy for victims of corporate harm.
Notes to editors
For more information, please contact Eleanor Rosenbach – eleanor.rosenbach@cjcoalition.org 07896768367 / Luise Schroter – luise.schroter@cjcoalition.org 07503470360.
The Corporate Justice Coalition (CJC) is the UK’s leading civil society network on corporate accountability, with more than 70 member organisations comprising trade unions, civil society organisations and law firms.
CJC leads the movement for a mandatory human rights and due diligence law, called a Business, Human Rights and Environment Act, and runs a campaign called Good Business Matters which shows Parliamentary, business and civil society support. The “Commercial Organisations and Public Authorities Duty (Business and Human Rights) Bill” in the House of Lords can be found here.
Additional quotes from CJC Members
Joanne O’Neill, Co-Director of Advocacy and Influencing at ActionAid UK, said:
“Today’s announcement is a win for the communities that have spent years campaigning to hold companies to account. But if the Government excludes environmental harm from this legislation, it leaves women on the frontline of land grabs, deforestation and pollution without protection or redress.
When business activities lead to land grabs, clearing forests or polluting rivers, women can lose the very things they rely on to feed their families and earn a living. They are also more likely to be in insecure, informal jobs in supply chains, where abuses risk going unchecked if the rules only apply to companies above the £350 million threshold.
This announcement gives the Government a starting point, but it should be the floor, not the ceiling. We will keep pressing the Government to bring environmental due diligence into scope, with women’s rights and access to justice at its heart.”
Marie Rumsby, Director of Advocacy at the Fairtrade Foundation, said:
“This is a major step towards fairer supply chains and we welcome it. Farmers and workers should not pay the price for exploitation or irresponsible business practices.
“But leaving out environmental due diligence is dangerous for the future resilience of our supply chains, and our food security. For banana growers, human rights and environmental harm go hand in hand. Extreme heat, droughts, floods and increasingly unpredictable weather can devastate crops, spread diseases, threaten incomes and make it harder for farmers to make a decent living.
“More than 111,000 people backed Fairtrade’s call for a responsible business law. The Government has listened on human rights. Now it needs to finish the job and ensure businesses are accountable for their environmental impacts too.”
Naomi McAuliffe, Head of Policy and Research at Amnesty International UK, said:
“This is a major step forward for human rights and the legal protections Amnesty and others have campaigned for over many years. Voluntary commitments by companies have long failed to address the human rights violations happening in their supply chains.
No UK shopper should worry that the goods they buy are the product of exploitation, environmental destruction or human rights abuse. And we’ll work with MPs to make sure this legislation is robust enough to give consumers that reassurance and the producers, workers and communities the protections they need.”
Lucy Brill, CAFOD’s Private Sector, Public Policy Lead says:
“Having heard from communities in Peru and Colombia whose lives and livelihoods have been negatively impacted by British mining companies, CAFOD welcomes this important step towards holding irresponsible businesses to account.
We are concerned, however, that environmental due diligence is excluded, since we know that when communities report environmental damage linked to business activities, they often face intimidation and violence. CAFOD is clear that human rights and environmental harms linked to business are integrally linked and are thus most effectively – and efficiently – addressed in a single piece of legislation.
We stand ready to work with the Government to support the introduction of effective, timely legislation that seeks to ensure that British businesses respect human rights and protect the environment in all their operations around the world.“
Posted by: CJC Team | Tagged as: Press releases