Our commitment to respecting human rights is stated in Hydro’s Human Rights Policy. We assess and monitor the development on human rights issues in the local communities where we are present and in our supply chain. In situations where we identify risks of human rights breaches, we work to mitigate, prevent, address and remedy potential adverse impacts as recommended in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Local communities where we operate and human rights
We address potential human rights violations in local communities where we have our operations through regular human rights assessments, stakeholder dialogue, grievance mechanisms and by contributing to mitigating actions. Examples of such actions include human rights education programs and establishment of collaborative platforms to build local capacity on human rights, such as the Sustainable Barcarena Initiative. In the local communities, we particularly monitor risks related to social conflicts, children rights, minority and indigenous people rights, and access to clean water.
Supply chain and human rights
We base our business conduct on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and related UN documents, and we expect our suppliers to follow the same international standards. The minimum requirements to our suppliers are stated in the Hydro Supplier Code of Conduct. In our supply chain, we particularly monitor risks related labor practices, working conditions, freedom of association and collective bargaining. We work with our suppliers to strengthen human rights through our responsible sourcing (link to site) approach.
Partnering on human rights issues
We have had a cooperation agreement with Amnesty International Norway since 2002. The cooperation is based on human rights education and dialogue meetings on relevant human rights dilemmas.
We also have a partnership agreement with the Danish Institute for Human Rights, which has mapped Hydro’s impacts on human rights.
Hydro was one of the founding companies of UN Global Compact in 2000.
Updated: July 17, 2019