Countries in Southeast Asia are turning to legislation as a means to force corporations to respect the environment and the rights of communities. ‘In Asia and supply-chains into Asia, we have historically seen [many] human rights and environmental abuses that come about because of supply chain pressures,’ says Catherine Parsons, Senior Advisor, Business and Government Engagement, at human rights group Walk Free. ‘We’ve tried waiting for market forces to correct this – and I think there was an expectation that perhaps consumer demand would be able to change the way that companies behave – but the evidence is now that without a binding law, these abuses will continue.’

‘We’re still in the realm of soft law but we’re transitioning to a more prescriptive type of legal regime,’ explains Labog. He describes the NAPs as plans ‘on how to regulate business’, with the region now moving towards ‘more specific [stipulations] that companies have to do human rights due diligence.’ He adds that from a policy perspective, Asia has been moving in the right direction for the past five years.

Such laws, where they’re in place elsewhere in the world, typically embody the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. These act as a framework for countries and businesses to follow, encouraging states to protect human rights via laws and policies and companies to take steps to prevent abuses, while offering a way for complaints to be lodged where needed.

Incorporating these principles, South Korea began working on a bill on corporate human rights and environmental due diligence in 2021, with the second iteration of the proposed legislation currently being reviewed by the country’s parliament. If adopted, the law will apply to companies headquartered in South Korea as well as overseas businesses with a significant presence in the jurisdiction.  

Thailand, meanwhile, is currently drafting a bill on responsible business conduct. Thailand is ‘responding to many years of being seen as a country where human rights abuses and environmental abuses to an extent were allowed to flourish. They are very much interested in changing that reputation,’ says Parsons. Responsible business conduct, she adds, is also a prerequisite of becoming a member of the OECD, which Thailand aims to join by 2030.

But it’ll take more than legislation to protect communities and the land from further abuse, say commentators. Parsons doesn’t believe that legislation will be a ‘silver bullet’ for these issues. Instead, legislation needs to be implemented as part of ‘a smart mix of measures,’ she says.

For Akiko Sato, attorney-at-law at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, this includes robust monitoring and grievance mechanisms that give those whose human rights are violated a place to lodge a report. 

This is where lawyers come in. ‘Lawyers who support the victims can play a crucial role in bringing their voices to court or any legislative scheme where the people can then claim their rights,’ says Sato. ‘But there are also important roles for lawyers who support the corporations […] [because they] can also convince companies to make sure they’re complying with not only national legislation but also international human rights standards.’

Other measures might include frameworks, incentives and/or penalties to encourage companies to report any accidental incidents of damage, says Els Reynaers, Co-Chair of the IBA Environment, Health and Safety Law Committee. For example, companies might be offered tax deductions or special consideration for procurement contracts if due diligence standards are met.

Many companies might not, however, have the internal expertise to assess the environmental impacts of operations and so Reynaers – who’s a partner at MVKini in Mumbai, where she heads up the firm’s environment practice – suggests that the legislation is ‘phased-in’ over a period of a few years, to help organisations prepare for the level of reporting needed to demonstrate compliance. 

This could be supplemented with education, says Parsons. ‘We have this expectation that the companies really understand their own supply chains and what human rights are, and this is not necessarily the case. There’s a lot of education that needs to go hand-in-hand with the regulation,’ she explains. 

If Thailand and South Korea get it right, there could be ‘a domino effect’ for the rest of the region, says Reynaers. These regional developments matter, she adds, because they give companies a local point of reference and a signal that change can be achieved in countries in comparable situations to their own, with similar complexities.

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