G20 nations commit to promoting the implementation of social and environmental standards along global supply chains

NGOs have welcomed what is a first for a G20 summit meeting, which this time was held in Germany’s city of Hamburg between 07 and 08 July. In a landmark move, and for the first time ever, the G20 leaders made a commitment in their final declaration to explicitly support the application of recognized international standards in the area of social, environmental, labor, and human rights in global supply chains. The leaders also announced that they were going to take ‘immediate’ ‘efficient’ measures to eradicate by 2025, child labor, forced labor, human trafficking, and all forms of modern slavery. NGO Oxfam in particular welcomed these commitments, notwithstanding their regret that unlike as in France, the nations did not make a decision to adopt a ‘due diligence ‘ law over parent countries.