Meridian's human rights policy: a commitment to positive impact

In a move that puts people first, Meridian has developed and adopted its first human rights policy to safeguard human rights across its operations and supply chain.

“This is about our commitment to respecting human rights,” says Claire Keeling, Meridian Sustainability Lead. “Ultimately, it’s about taking steps to avoid causing, contributing to or being indirectly involved in human rights harms through our operations, our products or services, and our supply chain. At the same time, it’s about identifying where we can support human rights and drive positive impact.”

The scope of human rights Meridian has committed to respecting is broad and informed by best practice. At the most stringent end this is about putting an end to modern slavery – the worst the of the worst – but it also includes rights related to non-discrimination, equal remuneration, and the right to practice cultural or religious beliefs.

The complexity of international supply chains, particularly in renewable energy technologies and electronics, presents significant challenges, so this policy will help Meridian identify where the risk of human rights harms is most severe and where we need to concentrate our efforts of prevention and mitigation.

“We know that there are risks associated with certain commodities like electronics or in locations where the raw materials are extracted, but it doesn't necessarily have to be that far away. Here in New Zealand, there are known incidents of labour and employment issues on construction sites, for example, and with Meridian being in the business of constructing so many assets we need to monitor this risk.”

“Once we've identified what the risks are it's about putting mitigations in place and working to ensure that we're managing those risks as effectively as possible,” says Claire.

And, with momentum to address human rights picking up across the world, she says Meridian wants to show itself as a leader in this space.

“This policy will require us to build on our existing practices and mature them over time. Expectations around this are really growing quickly, and there’s a responsibility of businesses to do more. In many cases this will also mean supporting our supply chain to take steps they may not have otherwise.

“Being able to get this policy in place means that we have a great foundation to build on and continuously improve our practices. It’s an essential step in our journey to create better outcomes for people, and something that I'm really proud to be involved with.”