Submission to the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic andParalympic GamesIHRB - Caux Round Table-Japan Feedback on the High-Level Sustainability Plan andFundamental Principles for the Sustainable Sourcing Code12 February 2016

In this Submission
1. Comments on the High-Level Sustainability Plan
2. Comments on the Sustainable Sourcing Code
3. Conclusion

Dear Sir / Madam,
In response to the call for feedback on the Tokyo 2020 High-Level Sustainability Plan 1(Sustainability Plan) and Fundamental Principles for the Sustainable Sourcing Code 2 (SourcingCode), the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) and Caux Round Table – Japan (CRTJapan) are pleased to jointly submit the following remarks.
We welcome the decision by the Tokyo Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic
Games (TOCOG) to set up an Urban Planning and Sustainability Commission and affiliatedSustainability Discussion Group, as well as the release of the Sustainability Plan and Sourcing Codefor public comment. The organisation of any Olympic Games is a global process, requiring coordination across continents, and a willingness to engage with stakeholders from around theworld. We therefore respectfully question whether a two-week consultation period is sufficient,and are concerned whether it demonstrates a serious intent to consult with and listen to external
voices. Much time has already been lost since Tokyo was awarded the Games in 2013 in terms of1
2

https://tokyo2020.jp/en/games/sustainability/data/sus-plan-EN.pdf
https://tokyo2020.jp/en/games/sustainability/data/sus-principles-EN.pdf

1Institute for Human Rights and Business 34b York Way, London, N1 9AB, UK +44 203 411 4333 www.ihrb.org
Caux Round Table-Japan Shibuya Sanshin Mansion 505 29-33 Sakuragaoka-cho Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0031 JAPAN+81 3 5728 6365 www.crt-japan.jp

IHRB - Caux Round Table-Japan Submission to TOCOG Consultation
Feedback on the High-Level Sustainability Plan and Fundamental Principles for the Sustainable Sourcing Codeputting in place the necessary due diligence systems required to ensure a truly Sustainable andmodern Games. By way of comparison, London established its Commission for Sustainable London
2012 within six months of having been awarded the London 2012 Olympics, and the Rio 2016
Organising Committee published the first, full-fledged version of its Sustainable Supply ChainGuide in July 2012, exactly four years prior the staging of the Rio 2016 Games.

1. Comments on the High-Level Sustainability Plan
Page one of the Sustainability Plan fails to mention the breadth of the Sustainability debate as
today widely understood. A 2016 definition of Sustainability extends well beyond justenvironmental considerations, and includes social matters, human rights, workplace standards,diversity, inclusion etc. This fact is acknowledged later in the document but social issues, including
human rights should not be an afterthought, and should be raised on an equal footing withmatters of environmental impact from the outset.
We welcome the reference to the five thematic areas of the Sustainability Plan. While there arereferences to “games planning and operation” in the first three thematic areas, it is not clear
whether this is meant to cover the entire life cycle of the Games and throughout the extended
supply chains, or is only meant to extend to the activities of the Games organising committee. In
contrast, the fourth thematic area entitled “Human Rights, Labour and Fair Trade” seems to makea distinction between staff and volunteers on the one hand, and on the other, those workers inthe supply chain of the procurement process, though it is not clear whether they are meant to betreated differently under the Plan. In principle, the Sustainability Plan should apply to the entire
life cycle of the Games and throughout the extended supply chains, and this should be made clear
at the outset of the five thematic areas.
We note that the “Human Rights, Labour and Fair Trade” thematic area refers to the Olympic
Charter’s commitment to “the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic
Charter [being] secured without discrimination of any kind. . . .” We believe this starting referenceis overly narrow. Since 2011, when the UN Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the UN
Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, an international framework exists that is not
only pertinent to the host city and national government, but also to the myriad of public andprivate actors involved in the commercial activities required to organise and stage an Olympic
Games, including the host organising committee itself.

Institute for Human Rights and Business 34b York Way, London, N1 9AB, UK +44 203 411 4333 www.ihrb.org
Caux Round Table-Japan Shibuya Sanshin Mansion 505 29-33 Sakuragaoka-cho Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0031 JAPAN+81 3 5728 6365 www.crt-japan.jp

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IHRB - Caux Round Table-Japan Submission to TOCOG Consultation
Feedback on the High-Level Sustainability Plan and Fundamental Principles for the Sustainable Sourcing CodeThe Guiding Principles spell out that companies have a responsibility to respect all human rights,
including the full spectrum of human rights enshrined in the International Bill of Rights of the UN,
the UN Human Rights Treaties, and ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
Observing non-discrimination clauses and respecting the rights of disabled persons is just a
fraction of this bigger picture of rights now globally expected of governments and companies, inan Olympic delivery context and more generally in their day to day business activities. In short,
TOCOG’s Sustainability Plan should reference the UN Guiding Principles and other international
human rights standards, in the same way that it references global UN standards for theenvironmental thematic areas.
At the bottom of page 6 and top of page 7 the Plan states that: “The Organising Committee willconsider the following points for human rights, labour and fair trade practices” and then lists 4
points which boil down to: setting targets; developing a procurement policy; putting in placemeasures for minorities; and measures for proper consideration of the human rights and labour
rights of staff and volunteers. This fails to take the due diligence approach outlined in the UN
Guiding Principles, OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, or indeed ISO 26000 (whichTOCOG refers to on page 6). Such a process among other things would require a continuous
process of identifying and addressing the potential and actual human rights impacts associatedwith the Tokyo 2020 Games throughout its life cycle. It should also include means for systematicand ongoing external engagement with groups potentially affected by the Games’ planning,organisation and delivery.
Ahead of, and during the Games - based on human rights lessons learnt from previous Olympic
Games elsewhere in the world, including London3 - TOCOG and its Delivery Partners mightreasonably anticipate and prepare for: adverse impacts upon the housing and other rights of local
communities and in particular affected children; impacts on the livelihoods of small scale, oftenfamily-run businesses from venue construction, new infrastructure projects, and commercial
exclusion zones during the Games; workplace rights issues associated with the construction ofsporting venues and essential support infrastructure, as well as workplace rights concerns down
the supply chain, including within the forestry, agribusiness, hospitality and manufacturing sectors
to name just a few; exploitation of migrant or foreign workers needed for Olympic related
construction and hospitality, and their potential exposure to human trafficking and forced labour
practices; restrictions on the right to protest; as well as all forms of discrimination as alreadynoted.
3

See IHRB’s report Striving for Excellence – Mega-Sporting Events and Human Rights (first published in October 2013)
http://www.ihrb.org/pdf/2013-10-21_IHRB_Mega-Sporting-Events-Paper_Web.pdf

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Institute for Human Rights and Business 34b York Way, London, N1 9AB, UK +44 203 411 4333 www.ihrb.org
Caux Round Table-Japan Shibuya Sanshin Mansion 505 29-33 Sakuragaoka-cho Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0031 JAPAN+81 3 5728 6365 www.crt-japan.jp

IHRB - Caux Round Table-Japan Submission to TOCOG Consultation
Feedback on the High-Level Sustainability Plan and Fundamental Principles for the Sustainable Sourcing CodeOwing to Japan’s demographic composition it is almost certain that Tokyo will need to attract a
substantial number - running into many thousands - of migrant workers from abroad to performessential functions if it is to deliver the Tokyo 2020 Games as planned. This will include workers
within the construction and hospitality sectors. Japan’s Technical Intern Training Programme wasamended in 2015 ahead of the Olympics to allow workers to stay for five years, rather than theprevious three years. What is less certain is whether TOCOG or the delivery partners haveundertaken the necessary human rights due diligence to fully understand the potential risks towhich these workers may be exposed, including to human trafficking and forced labour at thehands of unscrupulous recruitment agencies in the sending countries.
On page 8 of the Plan, TOCOG refers to the Olympic Games Impact Study. We urge that humanrights impacts be properly factored into this work.
On page 11 of the Plan, TOCOG refers to Opinion Platforms. We welcome this development andurge TOCOG to include domestic and international human rights experts, including ones
specialising in migrant worker rights, amongst those invited to participate.
In addition to the above remarks, we refer TOCOG to the Proposed Human Rights Statement for
the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020 prepared for its consideration by IHRB and CRTJapan.4

2. Comments on the Sustainable Sourcing CodeIHRB and CRT-Japan welcome the proposed Sourcing Code, in particular point 3.(1) which calls forrespect for human rights, and consideration of labour management practices and working
conditions, and section 3.(2), which pertains to avoiding the use of raw materials that haveadverse impacts on “human rights, local residents’ lives, and social stability”.
We feel this proposed Code is a valuable starting point, but that it does not go into anything likethe kind of detail that will be needed in practice. We refer you to the Proposed Sustainable
Sourcing code for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020 prepared by IHRB and CRTJapan for TOCOG’s consideration (see the attached document), which may offer additional insight.
4

http://crt-japan.jp/files2014/2-4-0olympic2020/pdf/A%20Proposed%20Human%20Rights%20Statement%20for%20the%20Tokyo%202020%20Olympics_EN.PDF
Institute for Human Rights and Business 34b York Way, London, N1 9AB, UK +44 203 411 4333 www.ihrb.org
Caux Round Table-Japan Shibuya Sanshin Mansion 505 29-33 Sakuragaoka-cho Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0031 JAPAN+81 3 5728 6365 www.crt-japan.jp

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IHRB - Caux Round Table-Japan Submission to TOCOG ConsultationFeedback on the High-Level Sustainability Plan and Fundamental Principles for the Sustainable Sourcing CodeIn addition we refer you to the codes produced by earlier mega-sporting events organisingcommittees, which illustrate the level of detail that global stakeholders will now demand ofTOCOG.
London 2012 Sustainability Report – A Blueprint for Change.5
Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee Procurement Sustainability Policy.6
The Rio 2016 Organising Committee Sustainable Supply Chain Guide.7

3. Conclusion
The proposed High Level Sustainability Plan and the Sourcing Code are important vehicles to makeTokyo 2020’s sustainability commitments explicit, but they will need the wholesale buy-in of thedelivery partners to become a reality in the planning and execution of the Games. Since key
contracts have already been awarded to sponsors, TOCOG is having to make up for the lost
opportunity to reflect the Sustainability Plan and Sourcing Code in commercial contracts. For thisreason, we urge TOCOG to engage with the relevant business enterprises early and often, raise
their awareness of all the thematic areas of the Sustainability Plan, provide guidance on how toimplement the Sourcing Code, vigilantly monitor their implementation, and develop grievancemechanisms to respond appropriately to concerns and complaints.
IHRB and CRT-Japan were delighted that TOCOG’s Executive Director of Games Operations
participated in the United Nations Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Business/ForumSession4/MSEConceptNote.pdf , and ahigh-level expert meeting convened by IHRB, Wilton Park and the Swiss Government on HumanRights and Mega-Sporting Events https://www.wiltonpark.org.uk/conference/wp1428/. We
commend TOCOG for its efforts to date, and stand ready to engage on NGO Opinion Platforms andto support TOCOG and the delivery partners in their efforts to bring about a truly sustainable
Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020.

5

http://learninglegacy.independent.gov.uk/documents/pdfs/sustainability/2-london-2012-sustainability-report-ablueprint-for-change.pdf
6
http://www.glasgow2014.com/procurement-sustainability-policy
7
http://www.rio2016.com/sites/default/files/annex_4_-_sustainable_supply_chain_guide_english.pdf

5Institute for Human Rights and Business 34b York Way, London, N1 9AB, UK +44 203 411 4333 www.ihrb.org
Caux Round Table-Japan Shibuya Sanshin Mansion 505 29-33 Sakuragaoka-cho Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0031 JAPAN+81 3 5728 6365 www.crt-japan.jp

IHRB - Caux Round Table-Japan Submission to TOCOG Consultation
Feedback on the High-Level Sustainability Plan and Fundamental Principles for the Sustainable Sourcing CodeRespectfully submitted,John Morrison
Executive Director
Institute for Human Rights and Business

Hiroshi Ishida
Executive Director
Caux Round Table Japan

Institute for Human Rights and Business 34b York Way, London, N1 9AB, UK +44 203 411 4333 www.ihrb.org
Caux Round Table-Japan Shibuya Sanshin Mansion 505 29-33 Sakuragaoka-cho Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0031 JAPAN+81 3 5728 6365 www.crt-japan.jp

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