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Tripartite System for Child Labour Remediation

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Tripartite System for Child Labour Remediation

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Measures: Implement a three - pronged approach. First, use a blockchain - based wage traceability system for permanent payment recording. Second, set up a living wage escrow account, holding part of brand payments until independent verification of living wage payment. Third, have a verified remediation plan, requiring brands to fund affected children's education and support families, not just terminate contracts.

Potential Implementation Challenges and Mitigations: High initial setup costs for the blockchain system and escrow accounts, especially for small brands, can be mitigated by industry consortiums sharing costs and infrastructure.

Rationale: This system enforces Kantian deontology by making living wage payment non - negotiable and verifiable, treating workers as ends. It addresses child labor's economic drivers and embodies transparency and accountability principles.

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The ethical challenges and solutions we have explored are shaping a new job market. The following roles demonstrate how ethical analysis, technological insights, and policy advocacy can be translated into practical career paths that directly advance the objectives of SDG 12 in professional fields.

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Article 1: Effect of Occupational Health and Safety on Employee Performance in the Ghanaian Construction Sector

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Article 1: Effect of Occupational Health and Safety on Employee Performance in the Ghanaian Construction Sector

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A quantitative study utilizing surveys and multiple regression analysis demonstrates the significant positive impact of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) on employee performance in Ghana's construction sector. By empirically linking robust safety standards and regular training to higher productivity, the research frames the neglect of OHS as both an ethical failure and a direct barrier to achieving the "decent work for all" mandated by SDG 8.

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Effect of Occupational Health and Safety on Employee Performance in the Ghanaian Construction Sector - Moses Segbenya, Esi Yeboah, 2022

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The contribution of the construction sector to the socio-economic development of Ghana cannot be underestimated. However, these benefits are not without challen…

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Article 2: Child Labor in Your Closet: Efficacy of Disclosure Legislation and a New Way Forward to Fight Child Labor in Fast Fashion Supply Chains

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Article 2: Child Labor in Your Closet: Efficacy of Disclosure Legislation and a New Way Forward to Fight Child Labor in Fast Fashion Supply Chains

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Through a critical legal and policy analysis of existing legislation, this research evaluates the efficacy of disclosure laws in eradicating child labour. It identifies a critical gap between transparency and tangible action and proposes "mandatory remediation," such as funding educational programs for affected children, as an essential policy upgrade to make supply chain ethics effective, thereby directly supporting the objectives of SDG 8 and SDG 12.

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Article 3: I wasn’t expecting that! The relational impact of negotiation strategy expectation violations

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Article 3: I wasn’t expecting that! The relational impact of negotiation strategy expectation violations

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Using quantitative survey data and regression analysis, this article examines how violations of cooperative negotiation norms impact buyer-supplier relationships. It reveals that such exploitative tactics, like sudden demands for price cuts, significantly erode trust and long-term partnership value, thereby actively damaging the collaborative foundation required to build the resilient and sustainable production systems central to SDG 12.

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Article 4: Corporate Sustainability: Toward a Theoretical Integration of Catholic Social Teaching and the Natural–Resource-Based View of the Firm

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Article 4: Corporate Sustainability: Toward a Theoretical Integration of Catholic Social Teaching and the Natural–Resource-Based View of the Firm

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This theoretical study explores the limitations of purely technical and profit-driven approaches to sustainability. It argues that without the foundational element of executive moral competence, fostered by ethical frameworks, corporate sustainability efforts risk remaining superficial and prone to greenwashing, a finding that underscores the necessity of inner ethical transformation to genuinely advance SDG 12's targets.

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JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources.

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Article 5: Human rights, social resistance and mining firm behavior in Latin America

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Article 5: Human rights, social resistance and mining firm behavior in Latin America

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Employing a comparative case study of mining projects in Argentina and Chile, this research analyses the factors shaping corporate responses to community resistance. It finds that robust state institutions, such as independent environmental tribunals, are fundamental in enforcing corporate accountability and safeguarding community rights, thereby linking the effective implementation of SDG 12 directly to the strong institutional governance promoted by SDG 16.

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I. Introduction

However, international scrutiny, voluntary firm-level responsibility commitments and shaming pressures are often ineffective. Indeed, Choudhury and Petrin argue that business has not done enough to serve the public interest, and activities need to be more oriented to social ends. To address these shortcomings, I ask how certain host country conditions induce mining companies to behave responsibly and to respond fairly and effectively to community resistance in Latin America. I hypothesize that actions by firms are affected by the interaction between two host country conditions: first, the ability and willingness of domestic actors to litigate, and second, the capacity of domestic institutions to hear and resolve cases. Institutional or administrative capacity and legal mobilization are my key causal variables, but they are not discrete, separate characteristics or factors. Neither is sufficient on its own. Institutions provide a legal opportunity structure for litigators in which they interact with personnel working in judicial or administrative institutions. Such interactions often result in decisions that favour affected communities, but beyond that, they can also result in evolutions in mindsets among those tasked with judicial or administrative decisions.

I analyze multinational mining company operations at two mines, one in Argentina and the other in Chile. In Chile, where civil society had litigation skills (and a willingness to use them) and the relevant institutions were strong, company behaviour was restrained and cooperative. In Argentina, where civil society had a clear preference for street protests, and the provincial institutions were unwilling to address alleged human rights violations, the investors were dismissive of community complaints. It was only the tenacious legal actions of a federal prosecutor that enabled some control to be exerted over the mining companies.

II. Respecting Human Rights in Mining Activity

For the purposes of this study, I treat corporate power and interests as a constant, assuming that mine investors are both 1) more powerful than communities, and 2) disinterested in social protections unless forced to be. But there is more to the relationship than power-there is also the law, imperfect though it may be, and institutions which act as custodians of the law. The power of multinational corporate investors in the mining industries in Chile and Argentina is counterbalanced by more or less effective civil society resistance, and by institutions whose remit is to protect rights and uphold the rule of law. How do civil society and domestic institutions do these things and how effective are they? That is the heart of the research question here.

Ensuring that the interests of affected communities are protected in mining operations in remote developing country locations is a major challenge, but despite the rising importance of CSR/ESG, and ample research on aspects of it, little attention has been given to specific mechanisms that can control company behaviour. It is clear that social movements have an impact on mining investment and therefore on how that investment affects local livelihoods but it is not clear exactly how. Opposition movements combine strategies such as litigation, media outreach and street activism at different levels of government to improve the chances of success when opposing mining operations, yet the relative effectiveness of these strategies is not always clear.

From the perspective of companies, the picture is less certain. Existing studies of firm CSR behaviour do not adequately answer the question of how or why firms respond to community interests and concerns. CSR goals are peripheral to operations, according to some, even philanthropic. When it comes to firm responses to community resistance, at least two patterns can be detected. The first is side payments; the second is rhetorical. New investments in developing countries tend to increase social conflict, especially where transparency is low. Thus, CSR spending is positively correlated with conflict in mining operations in Africa according to some studies: companies tend to spend when they experience conflict in order to reduce the risk of further conflict. CSR investments by mining companies have increased, including payments and investments in local infrastructure or services. However, despite the growing attention to community-oriented goals and abundant information about best practices, mining companies still fall far short of fully incorporating responsibility goals and human rights protections into their actual business practices. Their reporting tends to be variable, and realizing responsibility goals often requires stakeholder engagement for it to be effective. A top-down auditing approach to evaluating CSR implementation and compliance, and ensuring accountability, has often not worked well.

Firms also react rhetorically by building rationality narratives around sustainability and responsibility, drawing on (or twisting) the science to undermine community positions where they are contrary to the mines' objectives. Companies frame solutions in technical and measurable ways, creating distance between their opponents and themselves. They use Western standards of interaction and do not make adjustments to account for local context. Moreover, certain benefits from external investors, such as capital or knowledge, often backfire, as local populations find them unsuitable or counterproductive or downright damaging.

III. Mobilizing for Rights

Domestic law in Latin America and international agreements to which most countries are party guarantee substantive environmental rights, such as a healthy environment, and also procedural rights, such as rights to information about business investments, participation in planning decisions and access to justice. Both substantive and procedural rights were important to the cases below. In numerous instances, mining companies were alleged to have violated these rights in communities affected by their investments.

However, there was significant variation in company responses when challenged. As stated above, the variation was due to the interaction between 1) the capacity of relevant institutions (especially environmental agencies and courts) to hear and knowledgeably decide the case; and 2) the ability and willingness of litigators (prosecutors, communities, and NGOs) to bring legal action against the mine. Institutional capacity and effective legal mobilization made it more likely that the mine would adhere to the law, listen to communities, and respond positively to their complaints. The power of the mining companies and their interest in moving forward with investments is a constant, as I mentioned. State institutions are responsible for ensuring that specific human rights are protected (in these cases they are a healthy environment, accessible water and consultation rights). Also, civil society action to call attention to rights violations, and the strategies they choose, are essential to accounting for firm behaviour. Institutional capacity and willingness to act, and civil society strategies are the variables here.

Thus, to be clear, the legal opportunity structure is what gives civil society greater or lesser ability to press legal challenges. Moreover, the impact of the LOS on legal mobilization is not static. Legal mobilization evolves endogenously within the claims-making process, encouraging various kinds of strategies associated with legal claims, such as alliance-building, public awareness and educational outreach, forum-shopping and framing strategies which link environmental compliance claims to rights discourses. Legal mobilization differs according to the legal opportunity structure. Moreover, the iterative effect of rights claims enables challengers to experiment and learn, and the ability to form partnerships between civil society groups and sympathetic public agencies which can exert pro-compliance pressure is also likely to augment the effectiveness of legal mobilization.

In separate research, Haslam showed that variation in institutional capacity had a significant impact on the outcome of conflicts over the Pascua Lama mine, which crosses the border between Chile and Argentina. The mine provided a kind of natural experiment because it is located in both countries but is controlled by one company, Barrick Gold, and because there were similar environmental risks to water sources and linked transnational movements with similar demands. Chilean authorities halted the project in early 2018, while in Argentina, despite legislative changes at provincial and federal levels to protect glaciers (the source of much water for agricultural communities), social movement activists were unable to bring the project to a halt, because of 'weak and politicized oversight.' A context of the rule of law in Chile together with bureaucratic capacity and ability to implement policies led to a sharply different outcome there. Table 1 below sets out theoretical expectations based on institutional and civil society capacities.

IV. Cases and Methods

My cases are the Bajo la Alumbrera mine in Argentina and the El Morro mine in Chile. Most of the mine investors in these mines are Canadian. The mining companies are Newmont Goldcorp, Teck, New Gold, Yamana Gold and Glencore. All the firms profess to respect certain standards of conduct, even though their human rights performance has been harshly criticized by civil society and government agencies in numerous countries. All except two (New Gold and Yamana Gold) are members of the International Council on Mining and Metals, which espouses principles of ethical business, respect for human rights and environmental protection. All except Yamana Gold are members of the Mining Association of Canada, whose aim is to 'turn high-level environmental and social commitments into action on the ground ... (by providing) communities with valuable information on how operations are faring in important areas, such as community outreach, tailings management and biodiversity.' Yamana Gold's website includes similar commitments to community relations and ESG issues.

All the firms are Canadian except Glencore, which is Swiss. Methodologically, selecting firms with similar national profiles and ethics commitments helps to control for variation. One mining company (Newmont Goldcorp) was a major investor in both mines. Thus, I do not look at internal firm-level decision processes but rely on their similar profiles to control as much internal variation as possible. In an essay of this length, it is impossible to work through all the potential internal decisions made by the companies. My focus instead is on their revealed behaviour.

The case analysis examines the specific human rights violations alleged by local communities, presenting information on the mining investments, reviewing how conflict unfolded and what the demands of local communities and civil society groups were. I analyze community strategies and actions, as well as the responses of the company and relevant government agencies, and the interaction between social actors, mining companies and public institutions. I consider decisions by national or regional/local institutions in response to social demands, and company reactions following social demands and institutional decisions. I look at what happened to the mine project, whether it was halted or changed, and whether company attitudes and actions evolved as a result of social resistance. In later sections, I evaluate the reasons why the mines responded as they did in each location, particularly the role of institutional capacity and legal mobilization.

In terms of case study design, I follow Yin. The first element of the design is the puzzle, namely variation in the behaviour of similar-profile companies in different national contexts. Second, the units of analysis are firms, institutions and litigators acting within legal opportunity structures. Third, data come from the events and actions of these actors, which I interpret and compare across the cases, considering alternative explanations. Concretely, in my empirical cases, I compare how institutional capacity and legal mobilization impacted the behaviour of multinational mining companies at two mines, one in Argentina and one in Chile. Thus, the key elements for comparative purposes are 1) the actions of civil society in response to perceived human rights violations, 2) the actions of institutions in light of civil society action and 3) firm behaviour in light of the first two elements. Note here that the characteristics of the firms, their intentions and their power are not elements of comparison. These are treated as constants for reasons discussed earlier. Table 2 below indicates the predicted sequences following an accusation of human rights violations.

Thus, the cases show how civil society responded to human rights violations, how institutions acted on these complaints and how companies responded. The analysis accounts for company behaviour in the face of accusations of human rights violations. In Argentina the 'wrong' was pollution. In Chile, it was a failure to consult indigenous communities according to established human rights standards. In both cases, the firms were found to have violated standards and laws, but they reacted differently following those findings. The methodological strategy is inductive; there is no widely accepted framework to explain how firm behaviour is constrained in the presence of social resistance. I start with an empirically observable outcome (firm behaviour) and look for evidence that certain mechanisms were a factor in the outcome. The mechanisms should be necessary for the outcome to occur. I nevertheless explore potential alternative explanations in a later section. While it is true that national contexts and characteristics between Chile and Argentina vary, I have selected specific characteristics to test, as mentioned earlier and explained (institutional capacity and legal mobilization). These are the national characteristics that I expect will matter when it comes to company behaviour, and for the purposes of this study, they represent the variation between Chile and Argentina.

There are some important differences between the two operations, as we shall see, including the fact that Alumbrera operated for more than 20 years, while El Morro has yet to begin operations. However, I argue that the comparison is justified for several reasons. First, both are in regions with relatively low income levels and with substantial local support for mining (and opposition). Alumbrera is in Catamarca, one of the poorest provinces in Argentina, where mining represents 70 per cent of the economy. This mine alone generated as much as 3.4 per cent of Argentine exports in the 2000s, and 96 per cent of provincial exports. El Morro is located in the commune of Alto del Carmen in the Atacama region of Chile. Alto del Carmen has a poverty level about twice the national average, according to the national congressional library, where more than 41 per cent of homes lack basic services, compared to a national average of less than 14 per cent.

Second, the two mines are located in remote mountainous areas in the Andes, where livelihoods are centred around small-scale farming, which depends on glacial runoff for water supplies. Water pollution and sharply reduced water supply were a threat in both areas, and local farming and indigenous communities reacted negatively for that reason. Both faced large-scale public resistance to their operations and their investment plans. Third, the strong presence of Canadian ownership in the two operations-with their professed adherence to human rights and socially responsible practices-and the absence of other external influences, such as the Inter-American Commission and civil society organizations such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace, enables a comparison of the effects of domestic conditions on company practices and decisions. Fourth, institutions at all levels were involved, including provincial authorities in Argentina and regional tribunals, courts and environmental authorities in Chile.

I employ a process tracing methodology and use a variety of primary and secondary sources, including information from academic publications, media and civil society sources; official bodies such as courts, tribunals, ministries and prosecutors and in-depth interviews with participants. Process tracing requires 'looking for the observable implications of hypothesized causal processes within a single case.' In my case, this means of course the effects of legal mobilization and institutional capacity on company behaviour in the light of community resistance. In process tracing, case detail is necessary-this is what enables us to identify instances in which civil society and institutions took action of some kind, and also permits us to make inferences or draw direct conclusions based on the later actions of firms. Given that I am dealing with a small number of cases and a large number of potentially contributory causes, I use multiple sources of evidence to triangulate and ensure validity, and then infer causality. I exercise caution in my conclusions. My purpose is not to generalize but to contribute to theory-building, seeking causal mechanisms in the cases I examine. I treat them as a way 'to provide insight into an issue or to redraw a generalization.'

A. Bajo la Alumbrera, Argentina

The Alumbrera mine, one of Argentina's earliest 'mega-mines,' began operations in 1997, with ownership divided between Glencore (50 per cent), Newmont Goldcorp (37.5 per cent) and Yamana Gold (12.5 per cent). Alumbrera mined copper, gold and molybdenum until 2018 when deposits were exhausted and operations stopped. It was established in propitious circumstances: a 1993 mining law offered financial incentives and judicial protection to encourage mining investment and a 1994 constitutional reform devolved oversight of mining to the provincial level.

Numerous activist groups emerged to contest the mine's activities, such as the Citizens Assemblies Union ( Unión de Asambleas Ciudadanas) in 2006, which gives legal and communication advice and helps link anti-mining groups nationally, and the National Network of Mine-Affected Communities ( Red Nacional de Comunidades afectadas por la minería). Most social resistance centred around water use and pollution, either from the tailings dam in Catamarca or along the slurry pipeline, which stretched 317 kilometres from Catamarca province to Tucumán province.

In 2004, residents of the village of Vis-Vis complained of a spill, which led to protests and blockages. In the same year, the first leak from a tailings dam was acknowledged by Alumbrera. Part of the compensation plan was to build three solid waste treatment plants to limit toxic discharges, though the company only built one. In 2007, a local NGO complained of leaks in the slurry pipeline as well as from the tailings dam, plus air pollution from dust and illnesses among inhabitants of the affected area. It reported an investigation by a Tucumán federal prosecutor, Antonio Estofán, into Alumbrera pollution. It also described the complaint by inhabitants of Villa Vis, Catamarca related to leaks and detailed the accusations of civil society organizations.

The Gendarmería Nacional did tests confirming high levels of toxic residues from spills such as copper sulfate cyanide. The mining secretariat also confirmed the spills and pollution levels, but despite numerous complaints further action by the authorities did not take place. By 2009, studies by the Gendarmería Nacional, the Tucumán environmental ministry, the federal mining ministry and even the company itself had all shown that pollution levels were high. Sulfates, molybdenum, iron, manganese, arsenic, boron and other waste exceeded permitted limits. Moreover, a study of the mine's own 2009 sustainability report showed that it was biased, lacked transparency and communication and revealed weak oversight by local authorities in disputes over spills. There was no participation by interested groups or mechanisms of dialogue, nor were there independent scientific evaluations to enable alternative judgements of the mine's actions. In 2013, a federal court in Tucumán received the third study in a year showing high levels of copper in the water. Analyses indicated not simply that Alumbrera was responsible for the pollution, but that the levels were such that the company was negligent.

Meanwhile, most of the anti-mining activism involved street protests, blockades, marches, citizen committees, media communication, networking and similar activities, rather than legal action. The aim was to undermine the positive image that Alumbrera had among many in the community and government, according to one NGO leader. Nevertheless, some legal cases were launched too, as citizens sought compensation for damages. These were civil cases, and they were almost entirely fruitless, for several reasons. It was difficult in civil cases to prove a connection to concrete harms resulting from the spills, which made it hard for courts to assess damages. Furthermore, the mining company countered with other studies indicating that pollution was at safe levels, and it made periodic investments in public services and infrastructure, without compensating individuals for specific damages. Perhaps most importantly, the authorities simply were reluctant to act against a large local employer, especially since provincial governments were also local investors in the mines. In short, the legal opportunity structure was not advantageous.

While civil cases were ineffective, criminal cases were not. In 1999 the director of the provincial environmental ministry in Tucumán, Juan González, brought a criminal complaint against the mine. The case was taken on by the federal prosecutor in Tucumán (Gustavo Gómez), who ordered baseline studies to be done on environmental conditions. Provincial regulations permitted a higher level of contamination than was permitted under federal law, but the prosecution was still able to secure a criminal indictment (although not until 2008) of one of the mine's executives, Julián Rooney. However, in September 2009, the Cámara Nacional de Casación Penal (Argentina's highest federal court in criminal cases) reversed the decision against Rooney and requested more studies to determine pollution levels. The institutional reluctance up to this point to take serious action against the mine is striking, even with a federal prosecutor behind the litigation, and it shows the inauspicious nature of the legal opportunity structure even for criminal complaints. It was not until 2016 that prosecutors were finally able to convince a federal court in Tucumán that there was enough evidence to indict a second company official, Raul Mentz. An appeals court confirmed the indictment the following year. Moreover, Julián Rooney was indicted a second time in April 2019. These cases showed the determination of the federal prosecution to pursue criminal action against mining executives in cases of pollution that endangered human wellbeing (despite the institutional reluctance to act). They also showed that criminal complaints were more effective than civil complaints.

As Alumbrera was winding down, the mining companies embarked on a new project with another mine, known as Agua Rica, 35 kilometres from Alumbrera. The combined operation was called MARA, with investment from the same firms-Yamana Gold, Glencore and Newmont Goldcorp. MARA is designed to use some of Alumbrera's facilities while exploiting the Agua Rica deposits of gold, silver, copper and molybdenum, and the two sites would be connected by pipeline infrastructure. However, MARA also met with resistance. Protesters from local and indigenous communities once again took to the streets and blocked routes to the combined operations, and the protests were repressed by provincial police using rubber bullets to disperse crowds and make arrests. A group called El Algarrobo Assembly ( Asamblea El Algarrobo) was created, and it denounced police brutality. Hence, the long history of Alumbrera is filled with protests and complaints, but little effective legal action, at least on the part of civil society. A 2021 article on the history of the mine spoke of fruitless years of 'weekly marches, information campaigns and workshops, outreach activities, selective blockades, and encampments,' all without yielding results.

B. El Morro, Chile

El Morro is a proposed open pit gold and copper mine located in Huasco Alto in the Atacama region of Chile, backed by Newmont Goldcorp (70 per cent) and Newgold (30 per cent). It was envisaged to last 14 years, with construction beginning in 2012 and operations beginning in 2017. However, in 2012, following a complaint lodged the year before by an agricultural community, the Antofagasta Appeals Court suspended the environmental impact assessment (EIA) approved by the Atacama Environmental Evaluation Commission for El Morro. The reason was that the consultations with the indigenous communities by Conadi (the Corporación Nacional de Desarrollo Indígena) had mitigated the impacts for only a very few affected farming families and had not taken place in conformance with domestic and international law guaranteeing indigenous communities the right to free, prior and informed consent over projects affecting their land and livelihoods. This decision was confirmed two months later by the Chilean Supreme Court.

The environmental approval process was restarted, and the EIA was again approved by the Atacama Environmental Evaluation Commission in October 2013, only to be rejected by the Copiapó Appeals Court a month later. The basis of the November Appeals Court decision again was that the indigenous communities had not been consulted adequately. Nevertheless, the tide turned when the same Copiapó Appeals Court in April 2014 ruled that the amended EIA now conformed to regulatory requirements and respected indigenous consultation mandates. It rejected an injunction request against the EIA by the indigenous communities and permitted the project to go ahead. In yet another twist, in October 2014, the Chilean Supreme Court agreed with the complainants and annulled the EIA. The Court mandated a new consultation with indigenous communities. Fifteen indigenous communities were represented in this case by an independent lawyer, Lorenzo Soto.

Other institutions were divided. In 2014 the National Human Rights Institute (INDH) supported the indigenous communities' actions in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court. On the other hand, the local representative of the national Interior Ministry (the Intendencia de Atacama) supported the project. However, after the Supreme Court's ruling, and in sharp contrast with the behaviour of the Alumbrera mine investors, the El Morro investors revoked their own EIA to determine the best manner to proceed with the investment. In 2015, Teck Resources Limited (a mining company, also Canadian) announced that it would form a joint venture with Newmont Goldcorp, combining El Morro with Teck's Relincho development. The operation would mine copper, gold and molybdenum. This new group was named 'Nueva Unión.' By late 2018, the new company was in the process of doing its EIA and about to finish the fifth round of community consultations. The purpose of the consultations was-according to the report-to hear from the community and to inform them of advances.

Meanwhile, three further complaints were made by the Comunidad Diaguita Huasco Altinos and various other affected inhabitants of the Río Huasco region between February 2017 and May 2019, this time to the agency responsible for overseeing and enforcing the EIAs (the Superintendencia del Medio Ambiente, or SMA). The communities alleged that explorations by the mine were affecting the Huasco River and that the company lacked the necessary environmental authorizations. All three complaints were shelved by the SMA. The communities then turned to the Copiapó Appeals Court, which rejected the complaints in November 2019, and finally to the Supreme Court, which upheld the Appeals Court's decision in July 2020. The Appeals Court found that exploration activities had ceased and that the company had enough information to proceed with the EIA. The Supreme Court ruled that Nueva Unión's activities were not illegal or arbitrary and did not threaten the rights of the inhabitants. It also stated that the EIA administrative procedures were ongoing.

Thus, by 2020 there were no active conflicts related to the El Morro project. Operations were due to start in 2023. However, the communities were not finished taking legal action. They next filed a complaint in the First Environmental Tribunal, located in Antofagasta. The complaint argued that the company initiated explorations without permission, diverted water sources, adversely affected water quality, damaged ecosystems and caused other damages. They claimed that the SMA (which had shelved the earlier complaints) did not bother to verify the activities, the number of exploratory holes or the environmental impact, nor did they conduct water analysis and other tasks that would have established baseline conditions and led to a more appropriate regulatory environment for the mine.

The tribunal admitted the complaints in October 2021. In October 2022 it ruled in favor of the complainants on two of the three counts. It described the administrative proceedings in the SMA prior to their decision and stated that the SMA did not fully evaluate the impact of the mine and that it should not have accepted the company's argument that there was a distinction between mineralogical drilling and geotechnical drilling, because both have the same potential detrimental impact. Neither the SMA nor the mining company appealed this decision, which required the SMA to reinitiate enforcement and inspection activities.

In summary, numerous legal challenges occurred through different institutions, some administrative, some judicial, some at the regional level and others at the national level. Not all were successful, but together they effectively paralyzed the planned operation of the mine. There were some protests too. In November 2013 there were marches against El Morro, but unlike the Alumbrera experience in Argentina, civil society reaction to the mine was oriented far more towards litigation than street protests.

V. Human Rights Obstinacy or Constructive Engagement?

Despite similar commitments and national profiles, the firms behaved differently in these cases-the question is how legal mobilization and institutional responses affected that behaviour. In this section, I describe company behaviour and in the following section, I analyze the impact of institutional capacity and litigation on this behaviour.

In the Argentine case, several pieces of evidence strongly suggest that when confronted by local resistance, the mine did little to accommodate concerns or demands. First, it rejected accusations of pollution, and when pollution was found, prevaricated and challenged scientific and legal findings. Its executives were indicted, and they continued to fight claims against them. It resisted compensation for damages. Interviews with company managers and officials show there is little attention given to the local community in practice, above all in terms of addressing potential pollution risks and water shortages.

In the Chilean case, after discarding the El Morro plan, the Nueva Unión investors said that the mine would initiate

a broad relationship with communities, indigenous peoples, and other stakeholders in order to guide the development of the project. The project team will meet with the community and indigenous groups to explain the project and work jointly to determine how the relationship will be structured. Two independent organizations with experience in community relations will be involved in this process in order to guarantee socially sustainable results.

One might argue that there are local mine-operating firms between the communities and these large multinational mining companies which complicates the latter's responsibility for social and community outcomes. However, none of the multinational firms themselves or their representative sectoral associations state that respect for human rights depends on the cooperation of intermediary local firms. In fact, the CSR commitments of the firms explicitly obligate subsidiaries and contractors as well as the principal mine investors. This issue is more germane with regard to the Argentina case because the mining companies had many years of operational experience there (unlike in Chile). To imagine that the principals in Argentina failed to notice what their subsidiaries were up to when two senior executives were indicted on criminal charges and other spokesmen were brazenly dismissive of local communities in press interviews, seems highly implausible.

VI. Institutional Capacity and Legal Mobilization

Differences in institutional capacity and legal mobilization explain company behaviour in these cases. Argentine institutions were weak, politicized and riddled with conflicts of interest. Recall that authority over mining and environmental oversight was devolved to the provincial level in the 1990s, including compliance, EIAs and public consultations, even though local authorities had insufficient technical capacity, finances and personnel to oversee the mines adequately, and their ability to hold firms to account was correspondingly weak. In 2011, the Catamarca provincial office in charge of managing the environmental impacts of mining ( la Dirección Provincial de Gestión Ambiental Minera) had only two people working in it, though this number increased to 40 people by 2015. At the national level, environmental controls were 'extremely lax.'

Moreover, when it came time to make complaints about human rights violations, local communities were undermined because the Catamarca provincial government and Tucumán National University were investment partners in Alumbrera. Furthermore, little appears to have been learned in the transition from Alumbrera to MARA. The oversight plans leave local populations vulnerable because although the Catamarca mining ministry is planning to do monthly environmental evaluations of MARA (along with the company), the Catamarca government is again an investor in the mine. Obviously, provincial ownership in the mine and partnering with the company on inspections perpetuates the serious co-optation and conflict of interest problems, left unchecked by the lack of independent experts or alternative viewpoints during investigations.

The other achievement was to bring about a shift in federal court attitudes to be more receptive to community rights. Interaction between litigators and institutions brought change, albeit slowly. The thinking among judges evolved, especially in terms of interpreting the concept of environmental danger. Judges in prior years insisted on having causal evidence of the effects of pollution. That has changed, and plaintiffs do not need to show the effects of environmental crimes, instead just show the crime. Courts now presume that activities such as exceeding pollution limits are per se a crime, and a connection to damages is not necessary.

In stark contrast to Argentina, innovative institutional reforms in Chile in 2010 and 2012 elevated environmental protection significantly and diversified the institutions of impact evaluation, prosecution and justice. That is not to say that Chilean institutions never suffer from low budgets or insufficient personnel. But the panorama is better than in Argentina. A 2010 reform created a new environmental agency, the SEA (the Servicio de Evaluación Ambiental, or environmental evaluation service), with sanctioning powers and stronger environmental impact oversight. The Superintendencia del Medio Ambiente was also created in the 2010 reform. It has enforcement powers and legal authority, although according to NGO lawyers, too little budget. Public participation in impact assessments improved though there are still weaknesses, as the public is excluded from the SEA's process of completing an environmental declaration, which follows the impact assessment.

Strengthening institutions had benefits beyond specific cases. In rulings in the mid-2010s, the Environmental Tribunal and Supreme Court obliged the Servicio de Evaluacion Ambiental to widen its concept of who was considered an interested party (standing). It urged the agency to be more open and active, and draw from wider rights. Additionally, constitutional and judicial scholars reported that by the 2010s, the Chilean Supreme Court had become more progressive, expanding its view of rights and obligations. This institutional diversification and strengthening opened the legal opportunity structure, and the result has been to push conflict towards the legal system and away from the streets. A report published by the Economic Commission for Latin America noted that:

The Chilean institutionalist culture has encouraged the resolution of social conflict in judicial institutions, including courts and environmental tribunals. Social actors have used a series of legal resources to suspend or cancel mining projects.

At the same time, local institutions tend to be biased towards development, and economic pressures to approve development are high, especially among economics ministries. NGOs lament the insufficient public participation, low budgets for enforcement agencies, and tendency to simply approve project proposals. EIA decisions can be appealed to the Comité de Ministros -a body comprised of various ministries, which politicizes the process of approval. Regional environmental institutions and courts in the Antofagasta area showed a disposition to approve mine proposals, but the Supreme Court and the First Environmental Tribunal were powerful, independent checks on lower institutions and company behaviour.

As an example, Ignacio Montecinos Fernández, the lawyer representing the Comunidad Diaguita Huasco Altinos in the tribunal, stated that the SMA's investigation was insufficient because it did not review the water diversion, nor did it do mineralogical or chemical analyses. Other inhabitants were represented by Alejandra Donoso of the NGO Defensoría Ambiental. Both lawyers rejected the company's claim that there was a distinction between different kinds of drilling, and they criticized the SMA's acceptance of the company's argument. They argued that the SMA should have applied the preventive principle, and they criticized the division of the project into fragments to reduce the regulatory burden.

Iterated legal action at both regional and national levels, and in both administrative and judicial institutions, slowed down the Chilean El Morro/Nueva Unión permitting process significantly, and most likely had an impact on firm behaviour. Support for this claim comes from the investor withdrawal of their own EIA in 2014 because of litigation and claims of insufficient consultation, an action that the MARA investors in Argentina never took. The presence of capable civil society litigators who took repeated cases to different institutions forced the mine to take its responsibilities to consult seriously.

VII. Conclusions

In contrast, Chilean institutional reforms left a legacy in which expertise and capacity were established facts of life (even if imperfect). Civil society litigators had multiple opportunities to take legal action against mines and did so repeatedly. Meanwhile, their counterparts in Argentina relied on street protests and legal action by the federal prosecutor. When done effectively (i.e., with solid arguments in the right institutions), litigation in both countries worked to advance community interests and strengthen resistance because it leveraged the power of institutions to hold mining companies to account. It did not matter greatly whether the institution was an environmental agency, a court of appeals or an administrative tribunal. What mattered was its capacity to hear and decide complaints effectively.

The public policy implications are not simply to strengthen the legal opportunity structure through environmental institutions, but also to strengthen the ability of civil society groups and prosecutors to mobilize legal action on behalf of communities. It is unrealistic to assume that communities themselves, or their representatives, will become experts in using the legal system, given that they may need to challenge a mine only once. Instead, creating conditions in which national-level expert NGOs and other civil society litigators have opportunities to represent communities in court could pave the way for more just outcomes and a fairer balance between mines and local populations. Thus, the interplay between litigators and institutions is an important takeaway of this study. The legal mechanisms necessary to ensure appropriate firm behaviour depend on the legal opportunity structure. In Chile, litigators faced a stable and diverse legal opportunity structure. In Argentina, the federal prosecutor worked through the court system alone given the criminal nature of the prosecution, with indictments coming after several years of consistent findings of misconduct. This long experience afforded courts a chance to reflect on the legitimacy of mine activities beyond their economic contribution.

The conclusions here are tentative and merit more research. The question of determining what exactly caused company behaviour is complex and yet to be fully resolved. A major difference between the two cases is that Alumbrera began operations in the late 1990s, whereas El Morro was prevented from initiating operations. Street protests may have been less common in Chile because the mine never opened, although that does not explain the lack of legal action in Argentina. The context could well have shifted over time-if El Morro had entered operations in the late 1990s, prior to institutional reforms, it is possible that behaviour similar to Alumbrera's would have emerged. If so, that would confirm the findings of this study. Conversely, in Argentina, many complaints were from 20 years ago or more, and there may have been a shift over time in recognition of mining wrongs plus a new knowledge of the benefits of litigation over street action. On the other hand, even after many years of protests and two important indictments of company officials, provincial institutions in Argentina still seem incapable of standing up to the mine, and the behaviour of Alumbrera never became more cooperative.

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Human Rights, Social Resistance and Mining Firm Behaviour in Latin America | Business and Human Rights Journal | Cambridge Core

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Human Rights, Social Resistance and Mining Firm Behaviour in Latin America - Volume 10 Issue 1

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Article 6: Examining the role of virtue ethics and big data in enhancing viable, sustainable and digital supply chain performance

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Article 6: Examining the role of virtue ethics and big data in enhancing viable, sustainable and digital supply chain performance

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Through theoretical modelling and case study analysis, this study investigates how virtue ethics can guide the application of big data in supply chains. It concludes that an organization's moral character is the decisive factor, determining whether data is leveraged for genuine sustainability gains like predictive maintenance and waste reduction, or merely for "ethics washing," thereby positioning virtue ethics as crucial for authentically achieving the aims of SDG 12.

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Bag, S, Rahman, MS, Srivastava, G, Shore, A Ram, P ORCID: 0000-0002-0013-1882 and (2022) Examining the role of virtue ethics and big data in enhancing viable, sustainable, and digital supply chain performance. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 186. ISSN 0040-1625

Abstract

In the real world of practice, data-driven supply chains have gained huge popularity in recent years. This has led operations and supply management researchers to the focus on the role of advanced information and technology, including big data. Literature highlights that the use of big data can enhance business performance. Nonetheless, big data is analyzed by humans and a lack of virtue ethics could lead to disastrous consequences (erroneous decision-making can stem from bad data analysis resulting in not only huge business losses but also deterioration of relationships with suppliers and customers in the supply chain). To address the calls of previous researchers, this study utilizes the Ethical Theory of Organizing framework and Stakeholder theory to develop the theoretical model and further examine the relationships. The samples are drawn from the manufacturing industry. Hypothesis testing is executed through covariance-based structural equation modeling and finally, the conclusions are drawn. The findings of this work provide a more nuanced understanding of virtue ethics and big data implications, thereby answering the important questions of "why" and "how" data-driven green and lean practices increase the stakeholders' trust and enhance viable, sustainable, and digital supply chain performance.

View Item

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Bag, S, Rahman, MS, Srivastava, G, Shore, A Ram, P ORCID: 0000-0002-0013-1882 and (2022) Examining the role of virtue ethics and big data in enhancing viable, sustainable, and digital supply chain performance. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 186. ISSN 0040-1625 In the real world of practice, data-driven supply chains have gained huge popularity in recent years.

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International Labour Organization (ILO). (2023). Global Estimates of Child Labour: 2021–2023. 

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International Labour Organization (ILO). (2023). Global Estimates of Child Labour: 2021–2023. 

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This report provides global data on child labor in fast fashion, including the statistic that 70% of child labor in the textile industry occurs in low-income countries. It connects to SDG 12 by highlighting how such labor practices are symptomatic of unsustainable production patterns. The report also reinforces James’ (2022) argument for transforming supply chains to be more transparent and ethically responsible.

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This resource outlines how fair trade certification helps reduce child labor by guaranteeing workers receive living wages, thereby establishing a foundation for sustainable production. It aligns closely with SDG 12’s objective of promoting responsible consumption and production, illustrating how certified ethical practices in the fast fashion industry support the shift toward a more sustainable and equitable economic model.Fair Trade International. (2022).

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This Padlet presents a comprehensive analysis of ethical issues in global sustainable supply chains, drawing on six key journal articles. The analysis is about SDG 12 and structured around three core themes: the ethical responsibility for human well-being, covering research on occupational health and child labor; transparency and accountability, including studies on mining firm conduct and supply chain negotiations; and moral leadership through virtue ethics, explored via corporate sustainability and big data governance.

Furthermore, the Padlet applies three complementary ethical theories—Kantian deontology, virtue ethics, and the ethic of care—to diagnose why sustainability initiatives often fall short and to propose remedies. It also identifies real-world ethical challenges in supply chains and suggests actionable solutions, such as blockchain-based wage tracking and AI-powered monitoring to prevent overwork.

This Padlet will demonstrate that, despite the progress made at the policy level for SDG 12, only by deeply embedding ethical responsibility, transparent operations, and moral leadership into the core of supply chains can current challenges be overcome to achieve a genuine sustainable transformation.

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Aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12) on Responsible Consumption and Production, this work focuses on Targets 12.4, 12.5, and 12.6, which emphasize labor protection, waste reduction, and transparent sustainability reporting. While SDG 12 has driven progress—such as improved regulatory transparency and a slight decrease in industrial waste intensity—critical gaps persist, including ongoing child labor in the garment industry. By advocating for the integration of robust ethical practices into supply chain operations, this Padlet seeks to translate the policy objectives of SDG 12 into concrete actions that protect human dignity and planetary health.

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Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production - The Global Goals

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Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

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AI-Driven Monitoring to Prevent Overwork

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AI-Driven Monitoring to Prevent Overwork

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Measures: Mandate an AI - powered predictive monitoring system to analyze work patterns, forecast fatigue risks, and enforce rest periods. Combine it with a strict, digitally - monitored weekly working - hour cap and empowered worker - representative OHS committees with veto power over unsafe overtime.

Potential Implementation Challenges and Mitigations: Key challenges are high upfront AI infrastructure investment and worker resistance to continuous monitoring. Address them by piloting the system in high - risk sectors with subsidies and co - designing monitoring protocols with workers and unions for transparency and to present the technology as a protective tool.

Rationale: This approach operationalizes the Ethic of Care by proactively preventing harm. It confronts the excessive working - hours health crisis and shows moral leadership by prioritizing worker safety over production.

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 Community-Co-Governed Environmental Data Trusts

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 Community-Co-Governed Environmental Data Trusts

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Measures: Mining companies should set up independent Environmental Data Trusts co - governed by corporate and community reps. Community - approved bodies must collect key environmental data (e.g., water quality) and report it in real - time to the trust. Part of the revenue should fund environmental defender protection.

Potential Implementation Challenges and Mitigations: The main challenges are power imbalance and trust deficit between corporations and local communities, which may hinder co - governance, and ensuring the Trusts' long - term financial and operational sustainability. A trusted third party (e.g., an international NGO or UN body) can help the Trusts build confidence initially. Developing clear, legally - binding governance frameworks can ensure its independence and long - term viability.

Rationale: This mechanism institutionalizes Virtue Ethics by integrating justice and honesty into corporate - community governance. It enforces the Escazú Agreement, upholds FPIC, and enhances accountability.

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Definition: Laws that compel companies to publicly report on specific social or environmental practices within their operations and supply chains, such as the use of forced or child labour. The goal is to increase transparency and enable stakeholder scrutiny.

Source: Article 2

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Definition: An executive’s capacity to integrate moral reasoning into core business decisions, regarded as the necessary antecedent for authentic (non-tokenistic) corporate sustainability initiatives.

Source: Article 4 (p. 412)

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Definition: Communicating misleading or unsubstantiated claims about the environmental performance of products, operations or supply chains, thereby obscuring continued unsustainable practices.

Source: Article 4; United Nations Environment Programme. https://www.unep.org/resources/reference/guide-against-greenwashing

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Definition: An ethical theory that emphasizes the role of character and virtue in moral philosophy, rather than either doing one’s duty or acting to bring about good consequences. In business, it focuses on cultivating moral character within organizations.

Source: Article 6

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Definition: An ethical framework that evaluates supply-chain decisions by the single metric of “greatest good for the greatest number,” leading firms to count overtime accidents or community pollution as acceptable if net global utility rises; the article argues this calculus risks green- and ethics-washing when executive moral competence is absent.

Source: Article 4 (pp. 410-412)

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Definition: The measurable reduction of material footprint per unit of output through governance mechanisms that keep extraction within planetary boundaries; without it, mining-related social resistance and community-rights abuses escalate, undermining both SDG 12 and SDG 16.

Source: Article 5 (pp. 6-9)

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Definition: The probability and projected cost of community protests, road blockades or litigation that a firm faces when environmental/human-rights impacts are inadequately addressed in the supply chain.

Source: Article 5 (pp. 6-7)

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Definition: A legally-binding requirement that companies not only disclose abuses, but also finance concrete corrective actions—such as school-fee reimbursement or medical care—for the victims identified in their supply chains.

Source: Article 2

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Definition: A multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work. It aims to foster a safe work environment by implementing standards, procedures, and training to prevent work-related injuries and illnesses.

Source: Article 1; International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions.

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Definition: The quantity of virgin material extracted and processed per unit of economic output; a core SDG 12 metric that predictive analytics and circular-design initiatives seek to reduce.

Source: Article 6 (p. 10)

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Definition: A supply chain that is not only efficient and sustainable but also adaptable and resilient enough to maintain its core functions and long-term survival in the face of disruptions and changing conditions, aligning economic, environmental, and social goals.

Source: Article 6

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Definition: Manufacturing and production processes that are non-polluting, conserve energy and natural resources, and are economically sound and safe for workers, communities, and consumers. This is a central target of SDG 12.

Source: Article 3; UN SDG 12: https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal12

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Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist - Inclusive Conservation

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Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist - Inclusive Conservation

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This MEL Specialist role at WWF-Australia focuses on integrating Gender Equity, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) into conservation programs. The specialist designs MEL frameworks, promotes participatory approaches, and ensures data-driven insights advance equitable outcomes, aligning with SDGs 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).

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Are you driven by a deep commitment to equity and inclusion in conservation? Do you believe Indigenous Peoples, women, and local communities should be at heart of environmental impact? WWF-Australia is seeking a passionate MEL specialist to engage and advance our Impact and Learning Framework and ensure our work is thoughtful, inclusive, and transformative. You'll collaborate with a dedicated, values-led team as we continue to evolve how we think about and practice conservation-centering voices that matter most.

Workplace flexibility including org wide 9 Day Fortnight trial commencing Feb 2026

WWF-Australia Office location negotiable

2-year full time fixed term contract

Join a diverse global network working for people and planet across 100 countries

Work in a high performing, values-driven organisation

About Us

WWF-Australia is an award-winning and innovative organisation determined to do things differently. We use our superpowers to partner in delivering nature-positive solutions, empowering communities, and halting climate change - in Australia, the Asia-Pacific region, the Southern Hemisphere and globally. We are a values-driven organisation with a diverse global network of local organisations working in 100 countries. We work as a catalyst with communities, First Nations, governments, businesses, innovators, and philanthropists towards our global mission: to build a world where people live and prosper in harmony with nature.

About the Role

The Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Specialist, Inclusive Conservation applies their technical expertise to understand and enhance the human dimensions of conservation in WWF's projects and programs across Australia and Asia-Pacific. The role proactively supports Regenerative Conservation teams and external partnerships, ensuring the implementation of robust approaches to capture quantitative and qualitative information about the contribution of WWF-Australia's programming to gender equality, disability and social inclusion outcomes.

The role is a champion for inclusive conservation, ensuring WWF projects and programs adheres to inclusive conservation policies and procedures, engaging and sharing data led insights to inform implementation of WWF's Inclusive Conservation commitments and support strategic learning.

Key Accountabilities

(Refer to Position Description for full list of Key Accountabilities)

Work collaboratively to advance new approaches and oversee the co-design and delivery of a range of MEL outputs including but not limited to program logics, impact measurement frameworks for outcomes/social impact measurement, learning logs.

Advance and standardise measurement and reporting on the inclusive conservation dimensions of WWF's programming.

Contribute to the design and delivery of the Conservation Impact Platform to enable timely and accurate data collection and reporting.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

(Refer to Position Description for full list of Selection Criteria)

Demonstrated experience and expertise in established and developmental monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) approaches to participatory and/or community led programming.

Demonstrated knowledge and experience in applying Gender Equity, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) practices to conservation and or international development.

Experience in implementing organisational MEL frameworks to track and report progress against strategic outcomes.

Our Commitment to Diversity: WWF values diversity and is building a workforce that reflects the community we serve. WWF is an equal opportunity employer and Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples, people from culturally & linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, sexuality and gender diverse (LGBTQIA+) community members, and people living with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Our Commitment to Safeguarding: WWF-Australia is committed to acting with respect and upholding the human rights, welfare and dignity of all persons we employ, engage with or who are affected by our activities and work, with special regard for vulnerable individuals and children.

As part of your employment, you will be required to undergo background checks relevant to your position (eg. Police Checks, Working with Children Checks, Reference Checks), abide by our safeguarding policies, and sign our Safeguarding Code of Conduct.
You can find the full position description and selection criteria by clicking here.

Applications

Please include the following two attachments: (1) a cover letter, no more than 2 pages in length, that describes your interest and suitability for the role and (2) your resume (CV).

We may review applications and interview candidates on a rolling-basis, therefore we encourage you to apply at your earliest convenience.
Note that applicants require current unlimited working rights in Australia to be eligible for this role.
Contact: For any questions, please contact [email protected] using the subject line: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist, Inclusive Conservation enquiry via EthicalJobs.

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Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialist - Inclusive Conservation - Flexible Location - Job - WWF-Australia

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WWF-Australia is seeking a passionate MEL specialist to engage and advance our Impact and Learning Framework and ensure our work is thoughtful, inclusive, and transformative.

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This Senior Policy Officer role at WESNET involves developing policy and advocacy materials addressing gender-based violence and inequality. The officer provides strategic advice, collaborates with stakeholders, and supports frontline workers, advancing SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions).

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Senior Policy Officer - Canberra / Work from Home - Job in Canberra & ACT - WESNET (Women’s Services Network) Inc

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WESNET is seeking an experienced policy professional to join our team. This is a full-time remote working position, ideally based in Canberra.

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Senior Campaigner - Energy Transformation

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Senior Campaigner - Energy Transformation

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The Senior Campaigner at The Sunrise Project will lead high-impact campaigns to accelerate Australia's transition to renewable energy. Key responsibilities include developing and implementing campaign strategies, building alliances with diverse stakeholders (unions, communities, NGOs), and driving collaborative efforts to advance climate justice and equity. The role requires advanced campaigning experience, political acumen, and a deep commitment to social and environmental goals, directly contributing to SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

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Senior Campaigner - Australian Gas - Remote / Work from Home - Job in Melbourne - The Sunrise Project

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Calling all climate campaigners! We’re hiring a Senior Campaigner to prevent gas expansion in Australia and drive climate action.

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Ecolabel Certifications Officer - Good Environmental Choice Australia

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Ecolabel Certifications Officer - Good Environmental Choice Australia

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The Certifications Officer at Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA) supports the delivery of its ecolabel certification program by coordinating technical assessments, interpreting sustainability standards, and ensuring client compliance. The role involves reviewing safety data sheets, addressing technical inquiries, and maintaining certification records. Ideal candidates possess a background in engineering, chemistry, or sustainability, with strong analytical and communication skills. This position directly advances SDG 12 by combating greenwashing and promoting responsible production and consumption through credible, independent product certifications.

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Ecolabel Certifications Officer - Good Environmental Choice Australia - Remote / Work from Home - Job in Sydney - Talent Nation

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Play a pivotal role in advancing sustainability by guiding businesses through GECA’s trusted ecolabel certification process.

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Child labour in fast-fashion supply chains (Bangladesh and other low-income producers).

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Child labour in fast-fashion supply chains (Bangladesh and other low-income producers).

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Global estimates indicate 160 million children are in child labour, reversing two decades of progress; hazardous work is concentrated in sectors including garments (ILO & UNICEF, 2021). The U.S. Department of Labor’s 2024 list still flags garments from Bangladesh for child or forced labour, showing the issue’s persistence in a specific country and sector (U.S. Department of Labor, 2024a, 2024b). Ethical responsibility for human well-being and virtue ethics are violated when firms benefit from coercion of vulnerable minors. Companies should conduct and publish tier-2/3 human-rights due diligence, pay living-wage pricing to suppliers, require verified remediation (education and income replacement) instead of simple termination, and disclose supplier lists and corrective-action outcomes to strengthen transparency and accountability (U.S. Department of Labor, 2024a).

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Overwork and unsafe working time across global value chains (migrant and lower-paid workers).

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Overwork and unsafe working time across global value chains (migrant and lower-paid workers).

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A joint WHO/ILO study attributes 745,000 deaths in 2016 to long working hours (≥55 hours/week), a 29% increase since 2000, with millions exposed worldwide (WHO & ILO, 2021; Pega et al., 2021). From an ethics-of-care and deontological perspective, firms have a duty not to impose workloads that predictably harm health. Practically, companies should cap hours across contractors, redesign workloads, track hours, empower joint OHS committees, and disclose OHS indicators—demonstrating moral leadership by refusing to trade safety for output (WHO & ILO, 2021).

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Community harm and risk to environmental defenders in Latin-American mining (Indigenous and rural groups). 

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Community harm and risk to environmental defenders in Latin-American mining (Indigenous and rural groups). 

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Recent incidents and enforcement actions in Chile—including a 2024 tailings overflow in Cabildo and proceedings over tailings violations—show ongoing risks to water and community safety (Reuters, 2024a, 2024b). Meanwhile, Latin America remains the deadliest region for land and environmental defenders, with the majority of killings and disappearances occurring there in 2024 (Associated Press, 2024). The region’s Escazú Agreement codifies access to information, participation, and justice and, in 2024, Parties adopted an Action Plan for environmental human-rights defenders (ECLAC, 2024a, 2024b). Firms should honour FPIC, publish tailings and water-risk data in accessible formats, finance independent monitoring, maintain remedy-oriented grievance channels, and publicly support Escazú’s implementation—advancing both accountability and virtue ethics in practice (ECLAC, 2024a).

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Killings of environment defenders hit record high in Latin America

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Across all three cases, companies meet ethical duties when they protect the vulnerable, disclose impacts, and accept accountability even where state enforcement is weak.

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Across the six collective journal articles, several common ethical themes emerge, particularly regarding responsibility, transparency, and moral leadership in sustainable supply chains.

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Ethical responsibility for human well-being

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Ethical responsibility for human well-being

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The first theme, ethical responsibility for human well-being, is evident in several studies, including the research on occupational health and safety in Ghana and the paper addressing child labor in fast fashion. Both highlight that neglecting worker safety or exploiting children breaches fundamental moral duties. These failures undermine SDG 8’s vision of “decent work for all.” The Ghanaian case empirically shows that safety training and workplace protection enhance performance, while the child labor article argues that true responsibility requires not only risk disclosure but also active remediation, such as education funding. Together, they frame labor welfare as both an ethical and developmental necessity.

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The second theme, transparency and accountability, runs through multiple studies, notably those on supply chain negotiations, Latin American mining behavior, and child labor legislation. Each reveals that hidden practices—such as unfair price manipulation or weak regulatory oversight—erode trust, community legitimacy, and long-term cooperation. The mining study demonstrates how strong institutions and independent tribunals foster ethical compliance, linking SDG 12 to SDG 16’s goal of just and accountable governance.

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Finally, moral leadership and virtue ethics appear in the articles on corporate sustainability and big data governance. Both contend that technological or procedural improvements are hollow without moral integrity at the executive level. Leaders must internalize virtues such as honesty, prudence, and justice to prevent “greenwashing” and ensure genuine sustainability.

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Ethical reasoning clarifies why sustainability failures persist in global supply chains and how firms can respond to advance SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. Three complementary theories—Kant’s deontology, virtue ethics, and the ethic of care—offer distinct yet connected perspectives.

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Kant’s ethics insists that humans must never be treated merely as means to an end.  This principle exposes the immorality of fast-fashion supply chains that still rely on child labour.  Child Labor in Your Closet shows that disclosure laws raise transparency but rarely deliver justice because companies continue to externalise harm.  Kant’s categorical imperative requires active remediation—funding education and paying living-wage pricing—so that production respects human dignity.  Similarly, the Ghanaian OHS study (Agyemang et al., 2022) demonstrates that safe workplaces honour workers as ends in themselves and improve productivity.  In relation to SDG 12 Targets 12.4 and 12.6, these actions operationalise responsible production and corporate sustainability reporting.  Yet global evidence indicates only partial success: the U.S. Department of Labor (2024) still lists garments from Bangladesh as produced with child or forced labour, proving that SDG 12 has improved disclosure but has not fully minimised exploitation.  Stronger enforcement of duty-based obligations could close this gap.

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Beginner's Guide to Kant's Moral Philosophy

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Virtue ethics moves beyond rule-following to moral character, asking what kind of organisation a company should become.  Corporate Sustainability warns that innovation and sustainability reports are hollow without virtues such as honesty, prudence, and justice (Melé, 2018).  The Virtue Ethics and Big Data article adds that analytics can either cut waste or disguise misconduct, depending on moral competence.  When guided by integrity, predictive data systems help achieve Target 12.5 by lowering material use and emissions.  Government data show gradual gains: the OECD (2023) and UN Environment (2024) report a modest decline in industrial waste intensity, illustrating that SDG 12 is moderately effective where virtue-guided technologies are adopted but weak when firms pursue efficiency only for profit.  Embedding virtue in leadership training remains essential to sustain progress.

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What is Virtue Ethics? (Easy Explanation)

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The ethic of care highlights relational duties toward vulnerable groups—children, low-wage workers, and affected communities.  It reframes corporate responsibility as empathy in action.  Both the fast-fashion and Latin-American mining studies reveal that neglecting community welfare or concealing risk breaches this duty.  Implementing accessible grievance channels, verified remediation, and community participation demonstrates care in practice, strengthening social licence and Target 12.6 on sustainable practices.  Empirical evidence supports its impact: after Latin-American states adopted the Escazú Agreement, ECLAC (2024) documented wider public access to environmental information and justice, reducing community conflicts and accidents.  Nevertheless, weak enforcement in non-signatory states limits regional impact, showing that SDG 12’s effectiveness depends on coupling care with institutional support.

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Across all three theories, effectiveness varies but improvement is visible.  Kantian duty has raised awareness of human-rights due diligence, virtue ethics has driven incremental waste reduction, and care ethics has enhanced transparency and participation.  However, global indicators confirm that unsustainable labour and production patterns persist.  SDG 12 will only fully minimise these ethical issues when moral duty, virtue, and care become routine elements of governance—ensuring that transparency leads to remedy, technology serves prevention, and production safeguards both people and planet.

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Collectively, these themes show that ethical responsibility, transparency, and moral leadership are the foundation for responsible production, transforming sustainability from policy rhetoric into authentic moral practice.

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Ethical Performance Bonds for Guaranteed Remediation

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Ethical Performance Bonds for Guaranteed Remediation

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Measures: Require high - risk operation companies to get "Ethical Performance Bonds". When an independent verification finds a significant ethical breach (e.g., child labor, severe pollution), the bond activates automatically, and funds go to a dedicated fund for victim compensation and community remediation.

Potential Implementation Challenges and Mitigations: Industry resistance may arise due to high costs and complex bond pricing. These can be addressed by developing criteria through multi - stakeholder partnerships with NGOs, unions, and international bodies, and implementing in phases for industry adaptation and premium adjustment based on ethical performance.

Rationale: This financial instrument integrates Kantian duty and accountability into operations. It ensures quick justice for victims, makes ethical failure costly, and fills the gap between harm identification and remedy provision.