Read the Initial Assessment published by the NCP 18 July 2022: English
On 18 January 2021, seven NGOs, the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), Christian Aid, ABColombia, Arbeitsgruppe Schweiz Kolumbien (ask!), AIDA (the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense), CINEP (Centro de Investigación y Educación), and CAJAR (Colectivo de Abogados ‘José Alvear Restrepo’) submitted a specific instance to the Ireland NCP alleging that Electricity Supply Board (ESB), a state owned electricity company operating in Ireland, had not observed the General Policies (Chapter II), Disclosure (Chapter III), Human Rights (Chapter IV), and Environment (Chapter VI) provisions of the Guidelines. Specifically, issues relate to the company’s alleged purchase of coal from the Cerrejón mine in Colombia, contributing to adverse environmental, health and human rights impacts on the local communities in Colombia. The submitters allege that the company did not apply appropriate due diligence to its purchasing decisions, did not encourage its supplier to act in accordance with the Guidelines, did not sufficiently disclose information concerning its supplier, and failed to develop a human rights policy.
The specific instance is linked to another case submitted to the Ireland NCP as well as cases submitted to the NCPs of Australia, Switzerland, and the UK. The Ireland NCP noted delays in conducting the initial assessment due to complexities introduced by the necessary coordination.
On 18 July 2022, the Ireland NCP published the initial assessment deciding to accept the case for further examination. The NCP will proceed to offer its good offices to both parties.