For over a decade, affected communities, along with social and environmental movements, have sought to bring to life a United Nations Binding Treaty that would hold transnational corporations (TNCs) accountable for their human rights violations. Friends of the Earth International, together with the Global Campaign to Reclaim Peoples’ Sovereignty, Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity, continue to internationalise the struggle against corporate power and for justice.

TNCs have been central drivers of today’s climate and ecological crises. From fossil fuel giants to agribusiness, mining, finance and tech, these companies have built vast profits by exploiting people and planet – while constructing legal loopholes that shield them from responsibility.

For years, they have used denial, delay and disinformation to block meaningful climate action. We continue to see how their strategies to remain relevant become increasingly elaborate: promoting “green” branding and voluntary codes of conduct that may look nice on paper but do little to stop or prevent real harm. Allowing the very actors who created the crisis to dictate the rules of its solution is a dangerous conflict of interest. The power and influence these corporate behemoths exert over media, politics, trade systems, and international climate spaces is one of the most significant obstacles to climate justice.

Meanwhile, Indigenous Peoples, peasants, fisherfolk, workers, women and youth, especially in the Global South, are living on the frontlines. They suffer first and worst from climate chaos while having contributed the least to its causes. The Binding Treaty must break with the failed model of corporate self-regulation and establish clear, enforceable obligations for transnational corporations. Friends of the Earth International and the Global Campaign are putting forward the following recommendations on climate justice and the environment.

Download the position and recommendations and today!