At the Business and Human Rights Forum in Brazil (April 2025), experts underscored the critical need to align corporate practices with human rights standards, particularly in global supply chains and vulnerable communities.

 

Representatives from NGOs, businesses, and government agencies debated the necessity for more robust regulatory frameworks and effective implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

 

Central to discussions was corporate accountability amid growing social and environmental inequalities, with strong calls for enhanced transparency and rigorous human rights due diligence processes.

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Within this framework, worker participation was highlighted as a cornerstone of progress. Two Democracy at Work Fund affiliates — Argentina's Trade Union Front for Climate Action (FSAC) and Brazil's National Confederation of Salaried Rural Workers (CONTAR) — played active roles in panel sessions. They shared practical insights on advancing union representation and implementing human rights due diligence mechanisms across international supply networks.

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"‘No Transition Without Workers’: How Argentina’s Labor Movement Is Shaping Climate Justice"

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Sol Klas, from the Trade Union Front for Climate Action (FSAC) - empowering trade union leaders in Argentina to implement concrete actions in response to the climate emergency- participated in a just transition session.

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“Convinced that through partnership and collaboration we can build a path toward a more sustainable future in the face of an increasingly present climate crisis which continues to widen labor market gaps, we believe it is essential to expand and actively promote fair participation in dialogue spaces concerning the future of work and the environment,” said Sol Klas.

 

Sol Klas urges us to reflect on the opportunities for collective and participatory construction of a just transition, an issue that must be addressed at one of the most important climate events on the global agenda: COP30, to be held in Brazil.

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“Looking ahead to COP30, we believe the labor movement has a crucial role to play: increasing its participation, informing its base, influencing climate policies, and mobilizing the working class. Only then can we ensure that this transition is not built at the expense of human, labor, and environmental rights—but rather that it strengthens them,” said Sol Klas, Fundación Avina’s guest at the Forum.

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Within the labor movement, concrete proposals are emerging to overcome the false dichotomy between employment and sustainability. Decent work, social justice, and a healthy environment are not opposing goals—they are essential pillars of any truly just energy transition.

 

Although the energy transition is essential to addressing the climate crisis, it is not neutral. While it offers an opportunity to move toward a more sustainable future, it is also deepening historical inequalities, especially for the most vulnerable communities around the world.

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The growing demand for critical minerals essential to green technologies is creating new hotspots of conflict: land dispossession, environmental degradation, labor precarization, and increased violence against those who resist or organize. This reality cannot be ignored by the labor movement.

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"Implementing Human Rights Due Diligence in Agribusiness: Lessons from Latin America’s Frontlines"

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Laissa Pollyana Carmo, representative of the National Confederation of Salaried Rural Workers (CONTAR), moderated a key panel discussion at the Business and Human Rights Forum in Brazil, where solutions were discussed to guarantee human rights in Latin America's agro-industrial supply chains.

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The session "Collaborative Solutions in Agribusiness: Implementing Human Rights Due Diligence in Supply Chains", co-organized by Fundación Avina, the UN Human Rights Office, and other organizations, brought together over 80 participants, including allies such as Periplo Mexico, Stronger Together Mexico, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, and CIERTO Global.

 

The panel emphasized that agribusiness remains a key economic pillar in Latin America and the Caribbean, yet faces structural challenges regarding human rights and environmental sustainability. Participants stressed that Human Rights Due Diligence is essential to prevent and mitigate these impacts, ensuring companies not only comply with international standards but adopt fairer, more sustainable production models.

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Discussions highlighted how increased food production and trade coincides with persistent issues like labor exploitation and inadequate mechanisms to protect agricultural workers' rights. The session enabled critical examination of systemic human rights violations in agribusiness and explored collective strategies for change, with participation from public and private sector representatives, workers, and civil society across multiple countries.

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The focus centered on practical tools and experiences for implementing business practices that respect both human rights and the environment in agriculture, with CONTAR playing a central role in facilitating this multi-stakeholder dialogue.