Malaysia- 1st- Guidance to business

THEMATIC PRIORITY 1: GOVERNANCE

UNGP PILLAR 1

HUMAN RIGHTS OBLIGATIONS

No.: G1.29

Action: Deliver BHR education and capacity building for state government agencies and businesses to improve enforcement.

Output Indicator(s):

• Coverage of capacity building sessions successfully conducted at the state level for both the public and private sectors.
• Scope of BHR issues covered affecting key stakeholders including women, children and youth, older persons, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, migrant populations, asylum-seekers, refugees, stateless communities, undocumented groups, and other marginalised communities.

Collaborative Partner(s): BHEUU; SUHAKAM; related federal agencies; State Governments

[Pillar 2 outlines expectations for businesses – these issues highlights actions which explicitly provides guidance or to develop guidance]

UNGP PILLAR 2

No.: G2.4

Action: Allocate an adequate budget for a specialised team to conduct integrated sustainability and human rights compliance across all departments and commit to an annual plan for continuous improvement of standards.

No.: G2.7

Action: Include as part of the company’s code of ethics and conduct, the duty of directors to assess and consider key human rights concerns when making decisions on the business operations of the organisation at every stage.

No.: G2.11

Action: Set targets and increase training among the board of directors, management, and employees of the company on the responsibility to respect human rights (including labour and children’s rights) and support awareness-raising programmes for consumers, contractors, suppliers and communities.

THEMATIC PRIORITY 2: LABOUR

UNGP PILLAR 2

No.: L2.1

Action: Establish clear, transparent and justiciable policies and internal operating procedures centred on human rights and backed by a credible complaints mechanism.

No.: L2.3

Action: Collaborate with partners and suppliers to demonstrate adherence to international human rights standards. Businesses should establish contractual obligations with suppliers and business partners on human rights matters, and if they are found to have violated such standards, remedial or punitive actions should be taken. There must be a hierarchy of responses from the least to harshest actions, depending on the severity of the violations and facts of each case. Only as a last resort should businesses cut ties and contractual relationships with suppliers or business partners, in order to limit isolating small businesses that lack sufficient resources to operationalise these frameworks in the first place.

No.: L2.4

Action: “Know and show” human rights and fair recruitment due diligence processes through regular reporting and communications. Not only should companies gather and disclose information for the benefit of their boards, investors and consumers, but they should also ensure that company reports reflect actual practices on the ground. This may be done by assurance, audit and verification exercises conducted by trusted social auditors, assurance service providers and human rights organisations.

No.: L2.7

Action: Cooperate with private sector-led sustainability compliance initiatives and mechanisms on labour standards and allow regular and independent audits to be conducted by certified auditors or NGOs.

UNGP PILLAR 3

No.: L3.6

Action: Internalise, operationalise or enhance grievance mechanisms and continuously monitor and evaluate these mechanisms for effectiveness.

Output Indicator(s):

• Effective training on grievance mechanisms and UNGPs’ criteria for effectiveness are conducted, with clear learning outcomes.
• Grievance mechanisms are improved, aligned and comply with the UNGPs.

Collaborative Partner(s): Department of Labour (Jabatan Tenaga Kerja [JTK]); Industrial Relations Department (Jabatan Perhubungan Perusahaan [JPP]); SUHAKAM; businesses

THEMATIC PRIORITY 3: ENVIRONMENT

UNGP PILLLAR 1

ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

No.: E1.7

Action: Socialise the precautionary principle among businesses.

Output Indicator(s):

• Up-to-date information and guidance on the precautionary principle is developed and disseminated widely among businesses.

Collaborative Partner(s): NRES; MOF; KPDN (SSM); KPKT

POLLUTION, WASTE MANAGEMENT AND PLASTIC CIRCULARITY

No.: E1.15

Action: Develop standards of conduct related to the full lifecycle of plastics and its impact on environmental and human rights.

Output Indicator(s):

• Comprehensive and standard guidelines are developed, applicable to all sectors, in line with international standards on plastic pollution and plastic waste management.
• Guidelines and other information materials are disseminated widely, tailored by type of business.

Collaborative Partner(s): NRES; CSOs; IGOs

UNGP PILLAR 2

FOUNDATIONAL

No.: E2.1

Action: Expressly define and incorporate environmental and human rights within company operations. Businesses should adopt an environmental and human rights charter that is aligned with international standards and best practice, approved and acknowledged by their highest management and guided by the most up to date expert advice and analyses. The charter should also set clear expectations for all employees, business partners and other parties relevant to the business.

No.: E2.4

Action: Strengthen and improve voluntary carbon emissions disclosure mechanisms as part of the transition to a mandatory framework. Carbon emissions disclosures will only be effective if there is a standardised and uniform framework for measuring emissions which can be independently audited and verified. Studies on the market response to disclosures and voluntary or mandatory measures would be highly beneficial to improve such market mechanisms.

No.: E2.5

Action: Publicly disclose carbon emissions information in full to enable a meaningful examination of compliance to national regulations and targets. Disclosures should reflect the realities on the ground as far as possible, complete with key operational challenges, linkages to potential and actual harms to communities and outcomes on corporate responses.

No.: E2.7

Action: Identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how the company addresses actual and potential adverse climate change-related impacts on vulnerable groups, including those resulting from production-related and consumption-related activities and those connected to their value chains and global operations.

COMMUNITY-CENTRED STRATEGIES

No.: E2.11

Action: Increase staff capacity and improve human rights-related competencies in implementing participatory decision-making, especially related to EIAs and compensation mechanisms. When engaging with communities, companies should identify and select local intermediaries who understand local customs, norms and languages. In all circumstances, companies should consider community engagement protocols and the local management system autonomously developed and employed by local communities.

ANTI-GREENWASHING AND CLIMATE WASHING

No.: E2.12

Action: Strengthen supply chain management processes to achieve sustainability. An integral component of sustainability interventions is understanding and acknowledging the breadth of human rights risks linked to climate change and environmental impacts across the entire supply chain. Businesses must have clear methods for data collection and evaluation to enhance transparency and accuracy. This also involves disclosing their direct and indirect emissions i.e., Scopes 1, 2, and 3.

No.: E2.13

Action: Ensure effective communications by regularly sharing both company achievements and areas where improvements are urgent and necessary with their stakeholders, especially rightsholders. This approach aims to centre and empower communities, foster mutual trust and pave the way for meaningful and constructive feedback that introduces reciprocal benefits by limiting risk factors.

No.: E2.14

Action: Apply third-party verification and assurance measures for company disclosures including engaging with NGOs or CSOs. Collaborative engagements with sustainability initiatives and trade associations are encouraged. This supports businesses to diversify ways to achieve improved environmental and human rights governance based on industry experience and learnings of effective (and ineffective) measures, enhancing cost efficiency.