Between 2016 and 2020, CREER collaborated with the Office of the Ombudsman—Colombia’s National Human Rights Institution (NHRI)—to strengthen its institutional capacities by integrating tools into its work that enable staff to better understand and respond to the root causes of potential human rights impacts or abuses linked to economic activities.
This capacity-building process unfolded across four key phases, with CREER acting as the methodological partner:
i) In 2016, bilateral meetings were held with various Delegations, Directorates, and Offices within the Ombudsman’s Office to develop a roadmap that identified both the institution’s strengths and areas for improvement;
ii) Between 2017 and 2018, the Doctrinal Framework on Business and Human Rights and its Guiding Principles for Action were drafted and approved—tools designed to strengthen the institution’s role in the promotion, protection, and remediation of human rights in the context of business activities;
iii) From 2018 to 2019, the document Identification of Threat Scenarios to Human Rights in the Context of Business Activities was developed. This publication analyzes how economic activities may negatively affect the core elements of human rights, using a rights-based framework;
iv) In 2020, the Substantive and Operational Principles of Human Rights Due Diligence were formulated. These principles provide the Ombudsman’s Office with its own framework for understanding what it means for businesses to fulfill their constitutional obligation to respect human rights. This work was further enriched by sector-specific perspectives in areas such as: small and medium-sized enterprises and supply chains; public utility services; agribusiness; and small- and medium-scale mining.
The main outcome of this four-year institutional strengthening process is that, for the first time in Colombia, a public entity has affirmed that respect for human rights is a constitutional obligation for businesses—advancing the national framework beyond the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
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Report from the meeting with workers and trade unions
Testimony from workers and trade unions
The rapid expansion of critical minerals for the energy transition and other strategic industries (agriculture, defense, technology) presents us with a paradox: the decarbonization of the planet depends on an intensification of mining activity. For CREER, this rapid expansion carries critical risks regarding human rights, local economic dynamics, and ecosystem balance. Our work focuses on analyzing these dilemmas through the lens of a just transition, promoting governance frameworks that mitigate negative impacts and ensure that the mining of “minerals for the future” is carried out under rigorous standards of sustainability, equity, and respect for fundamental rights, through dialogue among different stakeholders.
We analyze the governance and sustainability challenges that arise in the implementation of decentralized generation models. Our work focuses on researching how local associative structures interact with regulatory frameworks and human rights standards. Through applied research, we assess the risks of rent capture, internal decision-making conflicts, and the conditions necessary for these self-management schemes to guarantee equitable and transparent participation in the territory.
With a focus on responsible land management and respect for local livelihoods, at CREER we apply our technical expertise in the photovoltaic sector to promote a solar transition with social integrity. Through the analysis of rural environments, the strengthening of local governance, and the design of participation mechanisms, we seek to ensure that large-scale deployment in Latin America not only contributes to the energy mix, but also strengthens the social fabric. Our purpose is to lead due diligence models that ensure solar infrastructure coexists with food security, strategic ecosystems, and the productive vocations of each community.
