Key Actions
iv. Draw on Expertise
Engaging with internal or external experts helps companies assess in an accurate way their human rights impacts. For large commodity trading companies, internal expertise may include individuals working in business departments responsible for compliance or health and safety.
Examples of external expertise may include written sources of guidance and information (including by organisations specialising in environmental and social impact assessments), National Human Rights Institutions, academia, local civil society actors, consultants (see box below) or any publicly disclosed sector-wide impact assessments (see for example IHRB sector wide impact assessment of the mining sector in Colombia).
Consulting external experts as part of ongoing assessment processes constitutes a credible alternative in situations where small and medium-sized enterprises may find it difficult to have direct access to affected stakeholders (see Stage 2, v. Consult affected stakeholders).
Example Independent Human Rights Impact Assessment by External Experts
A commodity trading company was considering a long-term offtake agreement with a mining company for a commodity produced at a specific location with a high risk of human rights abuses. The trading company commissioned experts to conduct a human rights impact assessment. The experts studied the current systems in place at the site, reviewed relevant documentation including on human rights risks and due diligence and conducted interviews with the mining company management as well as with affected stakeholders, relevant national and local authorities, experts and NGOs.
The human rights impact assessment highlighted a number of areas where the mining company’s operations at this site caused significant adverse impacts on the local population. Based on the assessment, the trading company set out a number of actions for the mining company to undertake before entering into the agreement. These included, for example, putting in place appropriate wastewater treatment facilities to address water pollution around the site which adversely impacted the community’s access to clean drinking water.
