Rachel Owens, CEO of the Solar Stewardship Initiative, (she/her) said:
“The Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI) welcomes the UK government’s proposed amendment to the GB Energy Bill aimed at addressing forced labour in solar supply chains for UK markets. Strengthening supply chain due diligence is the duty of a responsible sector, and essential to ensure that the just energy transition is grounded in human rights, environmental protection, and principled governance.
The SSI is actively working to support the implementation of existing supply chain sustainability laws, such as the EU Forced Labour Regulation and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), by helping business understand their compliance needs and how to meet them. With this latest positive step from the UK Government, the SSI reaffirms its commitment to actively support the GB Energy Bill implementation, and deliver on the shared goal of upholding human rights and international ESG standards in the solar supply chain.
Based on international standards such as the OECD MNE Guidelines and the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights, the SSI is the first-ever sector-specific supply chain certification mechanism for the solar PV industry. The SSI enables independent, third-party audits and certification of solar manufacturing sites against robust ESG and supply chain traceability standards.
Today, the SSI brings together 50 companies responsible for the lion’s share of global solar PV module supply and demand, and key stakeholders including civil society, intergovernmental organisations, international financial institutions and academic experts with relevant expertise about solar supply chains and human rights. With more than 100 GW of module production capacity currently in our assessment pipeline — exceeding the combined annual demand of the UK and EU — the SSI is already helping scale transparency and accountability across the solar supply chains.”