Polluted rivers, highly toxic mine waste and destroyed rainforests: the unscrupulous business practices of some Swiss corporations have been well known at least since the vote on the Corporate Responsibility Initiative. Time and again, Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter promised before the vote that she would work for an "internationally coordinated" corporate responsibility law and for a "level playing field" for corporations in Switzerland and Europe. Now that even the EU Commission has presented a corporate responsibility law, there are finally no more excuses!
We call on the Federal Council and Parliament to keep their promise and draft a strong corporate responsibility law now. In line with the international trend, this should include the following points:
- Risk-based due diligence for human rights and environmental protection in accordance with international standards (in particular UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises).
- An independent supervisory authority with comprehensive powers modeled on the draft EU directive.
- Civil liability adapted to Swiss law for human rights or environmental damage that could have been prevented by appropriate care.
Examples of handy laws
In several countries, there are already laws that show what is possible when the political will is there. For example, Germany and Norway:
In Germany, the Supply Chain Act was passed in 2021. In addition to a far-reaching due diligence obligation along the value chain, there is a supervisory authority that monitors compliance with the law by corporations and can issue heavy fines in the event of misconduct.
In Norway, the Transparency Act was passed in the summer. The law provides for a due diligence obligation with regard to human rights and working conditions - such as living wages - along the entire value chain. The law applies to companies with 50 or more employees and is enforced by a consumer protection authority, which can impose fines.
Keep Promise Petition
Two years ago, our corporate responsibility initiative narrowly failed to win a majority of the cantons. Now, together with a broad coalition, we are launching a new petition for a strong corporate responsibility law. In just 100 days, we want to collect 100,000 signatures for our petition and send a clear signal to the federal government: The population does not want Switzerland to soon be the only country in Europe without a corporate responsibility law
