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Does the Green Button keep its promise? - What companies report on human rights risks and measures in their supply chains

The sustainability label ‘Grüner Knopf’ advertises with the slogans ‘social.ecological.state-independently certified’. However, the criteria and tests of the Green Button are not strong enough, and so the label also adorns products from companies that insufficiently ensure compliance with human rights. In order to obtain the seal, companies must demonstrate not only product-related requirements but also aspects of human rights due diligence, identify risks, address them with appropriate measures and publicly report on them.

The present study analyses the public communication of 31 companies and finds that the Green Button falls significantly short of the public communication requirements formulated in the OECD Guide in its current implementation. If companies communicate risks and measures only abstractly or not related to their supply chain, they should not receive recognition in the form of state certification. In order to counter the risk of the promotion of a superficial due diligence communication, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) as the sealing institution must actively improve.

Scope: 38 pages
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