ID: 1924
Presenting Author: Marielle Rowan
Session: 550 - (Re)building trust and transparency to navigate complex energy transitions
Status: pending
Projects face uncertainty on how far supply chain responsibilities extend. A simple typology of workers and other rights holders typically involved in supply chains clarifies accountability.
For the energy transition to be just, worker, community, and human rights need to be respected throughout project value chains. Lenders’ standards provide clear guidance for direct and third-party workers, environmental management, and community engagement for monitoring compliance of main functions at the project site, as well as communities nearby. But projects face uncertainty on how far supply chain responsibilities extend, for instance who qualifies as supply chain workers and how to manage community impacts down the project value chain. Definitions for supply chain workers vary across lender standards, human rights impact assessments, and emerging due diligence laws such as the EU CSDDD, creating inconsistent practice. Social impact assessments (SIAs) and monitoring processes often treat these issues superficially, leaving implementation gaps. How to handle raw material extraction and processing activities, for instance for solar panels, wind turbines and batteries, that are not compliant is a grey area with misinformation and misunderstanding. Drawing on recent project experience in the energy sector, this paper proposes a simple typology of workers and other rights holders typically involved in supply chains to clarify categories and accountability across developer, contractor, and supplier levels. It concludes with practical recommendations for integrating supply chain and human rights due diligence into SIA processes to strengthen social risk management and transparency.
Technical Director of Social Performance in Mott MacDonald’s energy unit. Supports projects to provide benefits to local communities and workers, managing compliance risk.
Coauthor 1: Hannah Mills
Coauthor 2: Tom Streather