Iberdrola and Acciona have made the most progress towards adopting human rights policies and practices out of a review of 15 global renewable energy developers.
The Renewable Energy & Human Rights Benchmark 2021 second edition shows that just over one year after its inaugural evaluation, there has been “some modest progress” within the industry towards adopting “essential” human rights policies and practices.
A few companies improved their scores significantly, and nearly all benchmarked companies showed some improvement when compared with last year, stated the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, which produces the benchmark.
Iberdrola scored 60%, Acciona 58%, followed by EDP with 56% and EDF and Orsted with 48% each. Average scores were 28%, with RWE scoring 19%, Brookfield 11%, Power China 3% and China Nuclear Power Generation Corporation 2%.
Overall results “remain profoundly concerning, with companies scoring an average of just 28%”, said the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre.
It stated: “Without real and rapid progress, communities that host renewable energy projects will continue to face human rights risks with often tragic consequences … Renewable energy companies will face ongoing reputational, operational and legal risks, and investors will be exposed to those risks as well.
“And, governments will struggle to uphold human rights for their constituencies while also advancing efforts to combat the climate crisis.”
The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has recorded over 200 allegations linked to renewable energy projects in the last 10 years.
Almost half of these (44%) are from the wind and solar sectors.
Abuses include land and water grabs, violation of the rights of Indigenous nations, and the denial of workers’ rights to decent work and a living wage.
“Additionally, companies scored lowest on benchmark indicators that represent the sector’s most salient human rights risks – land rights, indigenous people’s rights, and protections for human rights defenders,” said Business and Human Rights Resource Centre.
It stated that for the energy transition to be successful it must be “fast but also fair” and advised that renewable energy companies should integrate “robust human rights due diligence (HRDD) on their operations and supply chains into their company practices so they can act to prevent, mitigate, and remedy the human rights impacts associated with their business”.