In addition to its other activities, WEED has been involved in dialogues with various economic actors for several years in individual cases, e.g. as part of round tables, dialogue forums, company events on the topic of human rights violations in supply chains, stakeholder or industry dialogues.

The decision to enter into an exchange or critical dialogue is always based on various considerations: How high is the potential for change in the company or industry (e.g. when engaging with industry associations) and how great is our ability to influence the behaviour of economic actors? Can changes in the value chains of individual companies or even an entire industry be achieved through dialogue?

Before we engage in dialogue, we carefully examine these questions with regard to possible opportunities and risks. What opportunities are there to exert influence in line with WEED's mission statement? How high do we estimate the risk of capture? Central to any engagement is the question of the extent to which WEED's independence is guaranteed. No corporate dialogue should lead to civil society organisations neglecting their first duty to criticise. Weighing up the extent to which we engage in a regular dialogue naturally always includes a constant examination of an exit scenario.

We are currently involved in the sector dialogue on the automotive industry that was organized by the German government. One of the outcomes was the pilot project of a cross-company complaints mechanism of the German automotive industry in Mexico - Mecanismo de Reclamaciones de los Derechos Humanos (MRDH).

Our work there is aimed at ensuring that car manufacturers and their suppliers fulfil their responsibilities, prevent human rights violations and environmental destruction in their value chains and provide access to remedy for any damage that has occurred.