Outsourcing responsibility – new study shines a light on a growing phenomenon
Who is responsible for safeguarding human rights in the age of climate change? Who is responsible for protecting human rights in the digital realm where there are no borders? When is this responsibility sidestepped, contested, transferred or delegated to others? The outsourcing of human rights responsibilities is a structural phenomenon which is highly relevant today. The SHRI explores the issue in an in-depth study.
In 2024 the SHRI chose the outsourcing of responsibility for human rights[HS1] as one of its priority topics, recognising that the traditional understanding of human rights is no longer fit for purpose in the face of current global challenges. These challenges include climate change, global value chains, migration and digitalisation.
The existing understanding identifies states as the primary entities that bear responsibility for human rights. Yet today many other actors, such as companies, wield at least as much influence as states. Furthermore, human rights responsibilities are limited in space and time – they stop at state borders and violations of the rights of future generations are not taken into account.
Investigating a structural phenomenon
In the context of current challenges such as digitalisation, climate change and globalised value chains, the limits of the traditional understanding of responsibility result in a lack of clarity. Who is responsible for ensuring human rights are upheld and how far does this responsibility extend? These ambiguities allow states and private actors to evade their responsibilities or transfer them to others.
Three examples of where responsibility is being outsourced
For months the Swiss Parliament has been debating the use of “return hubs”. This practice relates to asylum seekers whose applications have been rejected but who cannot be returned to their country of origin. Instead arrangements are made to transfer them to a third country which has agreed to take them. If Switzerland were to adopt this model, it be would outsourcing part of the process of enforcing removal orders to these third countries. This is problematic because such processes can have serious consequences for the human rights of migrants and refugees – rights Switzerland has committed itself to respecting through its accession to various international conventions.
The Paris Agreement provides for a cap on greenhouse gas emissions for each state. However, these limits do not include what are known as “grey emissions”, that is emissions produced before and after the actual consumption of a product. In Switzerland, where most consumer goods are imported, grey emissions account for around two thirds of the country’s total carbon footprint. Yet they are not included in the official emissions calculations. This means Switzerland is outsourcing to other states part of its responsibility to limit emissions.
In many sectors companies headquartered in Switzerland outsource parts of their production processes to countries with lower wages. Environmental and labour laws in these countries are less strict and regulations are less consistently enforced. As a result, the majority of value creation is in the Global North, especially in Switzerland, while the risks to human rights are mainly concentrated in the Global South. From the legal standpoint, the responsibility is split, as the different companies along the value chains operate as separate entities.
Specific consequences for human rights
Outsourcing responsibility increases the risk of human rights violations and these risks are particularly high for vulnerable groups, such as women, children and migrants.
In the context of climate change, the outsourcing of responsibility exacerbates the impacts of global warming on human rights, including the rights to life, health, water and food. Human rights violations are also often found in global value chains, for example in relation to the right to health, the right to equality and protection from discrimination, and the prohibition of slavery and forced labour.
The outsourcing of responsibility also affects access to justice. When responsibilities are not clearly defined, the jurisdiction of the courts is often unclear as well. If the people affected are in other countries, there are additional logistical and financial obstacles, including legal costs, language barriers and difficulties with obtaining evidence.
Read the full study (in German) (pdf)
Recognising and tackling the problem
The SHRI intends that this study will shine a light on the outsourcing of responsibility and the risks to human rights resulting from this phenomenon. It also explores efforts to clarify and reassign responsibilities, although this process is still at the very early stages and much remains to be done, especially in Switzerland.
Stefan Schlegel, Director of the SHRI, explains: “The SHRI is concerned about the risks posed to human rights by the outsourcing of responsibility. Decisions that are made in Switzerland have real, sometimes serious impacts on people and communities on the other side of the world. This also applies to people in future generations. We have a shared obligation to address these problems and clarify where these responsibilities lie.”
Further reading
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