Human rights
We respect the rights of our workforce and those living in communities near our sites who are affected by our activities. We set out our commitments in our human rights policy and code of conduct, and our Operating Management System (OMS) contains requirements and guidance on respecting the rights of workers and community members
Human rights governance
The board-level safety & sustainability committee has oversight of human rights, including modern slavery. The group operational risk committee reviews progress on managing the potential operational and associated supply chain risks of modern slavery.
The senior vice president level sustainability forum, as one of its activities, considers current and emerging human rights risks of potential group significance, defines the overall bp position, and integrates performance across the group with regards to the human rights policy and relevant sustainability aims, including Just Transition (aim 12), Sustainable Livelihoods (aim 13) and Greater Equity (aim 14).
Businesses and local operations are responsible for mitigating and managing the risks and implementing actions to help us meet our human rights policy commitments and relevant group requirements.
Advancing human rights through our aims
Our aim 12 is to support a just energy transition that advances human rights and education.
We support the Paris Agreement, which recognizes the importance of a just transition – one that delivers decent work, quality jobs; and supports the livelihoods of local communities. To support a just energy transition, we aim to collaborate with key stakeholders and other industries to support the advancement of human rights through the transition. We will do this by developing just transition plans in priority areas and helping the workforce to develop skills for the future energy system, taking a socially inclusive approach. We aim to build stronger relationships with local communities, based on mutual trust and respect, and will support civic dialogue, greater transparency and capacity building, where we work.
Human rights policy
Our human rights policy addresses human rights issues relevant to our industry; clarifies our human rights commitments; and communicates how bp’s approach to managing human rights impacts has advanced. The policy sets out how other, relevant bp expectations and principles – such as those on labour rights and modern slavery – underpin our human rights commitments and describes how we manage human rights impacts across our operations.
The policy states that we will obtain independent third-party assessments of selected sites and business activities’ conformance with it, on a risk-prioritized basis. These assessments are now underway.
Labour rights and modern slavery principles
We respect internationally recognized human rights as set out in the International Bill of Human Rights and the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles at Work, including the Core Conventions. These conventions are particularly pertinent as many accepted workforce norms and standards are based on them. They underpin our own bp human rights policy. We are incorporating the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which set out how companies should prevent, address and remedy human rights impacts, into our business processes.
We are committed to respecting workers’ rights, in line with the International Labour Organisation Core Conventions on Rights at Work and we expect our contractors, suppliers and joint ventures we participate in to do the same.
Our expectation is that workers in our operations, joint ventures and supply chains are not subject to abusive or inhumane practices, such as child labour, forced labour, trafficking, slavery or servitude, discrimination, or harassment.
To assist in communicating these expectations to our businesses, contractors and suppliers we have developed the bp labour rights and modern slavery principles. The principles clarify our position on a range of issues, including workers having clear employment contracts, employer-pays principles in relation to recruitment fees, and not withholding worker passport or identity documents. They build on and add to the existing high-level requirements and expectations in our code of conduct, human rights policy and supplier expectations.
We publish our labour rights and modern slavery principles online and requirements and guidance for our approach to labour rights and modern slavery across bp operated businesses are set out in our operating management system.
We have continued to improve our systematic approach to pre-contract due diligence by making greater use of evidence-based desktop reviews and other actions to address and remedy issues. This approach helps us identify whether or not potential suppliers will be able to meet our LRMS expectations, if additional controls are needed, and how to introduce them if this is the case.
Security and human rights
We work with our security providers to reinforce the importance of respecting human rights. We support the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, which guide the way we work with security forces. In line with the Voluntary Principles, we emphasize the need to understand and respect the human rights of our workforce and people living in communities near our operations. We provide training on the principles for employees who are accountable for managing security and conduct assessments to identify ways in which we can help them to improve.
Working together to respect human rights
Around the world we work with non-governmental organizations and other partners on human rights issues and aim to make a positive impact at global, national and local community levels. These issues can range from community livelihoods, rights to water, land and resources, workforce rights – including modern slavery – through to the approach of security forces who protect our sites.
We also participate in a number of global collaborative initiatives in support of human rights. Our participation in these initiatives helps us engage with stakeholders across society to better understand emerging issues and improve how we manage potential human rights impacts at an operational level. Some of these human rights-related initiatives include:
The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights
bp is a founding member of the Voluntary Principles Initiative; participation in the initiative supports how we work with security forces to provide responsible security for our sites.
The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
bp is a founding member of the EITI, which sets a global standard for transparency of revenue flows in our industry; participation in the initiative supports engagement on transparency and good governance with civil society in countries where we operate.
The UN Global Compact (UNGC)
bp is an active participant in the UNGC at Group level. Participation in UNGC initiatives through national networks supports our understanding and management of social issues, including modern slavery.
The Fair Labour Alliance (FLA)
bp is a member of the FLA, which provides a collaborative and supportive forum through which we aim to support our businesses in meeting our labour rights and modern slavery principles, including enhancing our practices for managing risks to migrant and other vulnerable workers.
Ipieca, the oil and gas industry association for environment and social performance
bp is an active member of Ipieca across a number of its workstreams. Those most relevant to human rights include the Social Responsibility Group, Human Rights Working Group and Supply Chain Working Group. Participation in these working groups enables us to share and learn from good industry practices and develop common tools and guidance to address human rights issues and improve practices across our industry.
Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)
BSR brings together member companies across several different industries, and bp is an active member of BSR’s Human Rights Working Group. Through participation in this group we are able to learn from leading practices in other industries, share challenges and develop common solutions to improve respect for human rights at the site and Group levels.
Conflict minerals
Based on internal due diligence, we have no reason to believe that any gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum necessary to the functionality or production of our products may have originated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo or adjoining countries for products manufactured in the calendar year 2023.
