Respect Human Rights

To achieve our ambition, Galp is focused on the following drivers:

Address findings and potential impacts
Spread Human Rights awareness in our ecosystem

Our Human Rights Policy, reflects globally acknowledged standards for business and human rights, such as the relevant principles of the United Nations Global Compact (in which Galp participates), the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (the “UNGPs”), the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, as well as the principles and rights set out in the eight fundamental conventions identified in the Declaration of the International Labour Organisation on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the International Bill of Human Rights. Based on its Policy, Galp is committed to encourage its suppliers, business partners and customers to respect human rights and to ensure risk-based management processes, in accordance with a value chain perspective of responsible business conduct.

We therefore implement procedures to prevent direct or indirect abuses or violations of internationally recognized human rights resulting from our operations and to ensure alignment of our business activities with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UNGPs.

Respecting human rights is also crucial to comply with the minimum safeguards criteria required by the EU Taxonomy regulation. The purpose of minimum safeguards is to ensure that entities carrying out economic activities that are considered Taxonomy-aligned are not involved in breaches of key social principles and human rights violations. Galp conducts human rights due diligence according to the above standards and is committed to protect and uphold human rights throughout all its activities in the value chain. Find out more about Galp's corporate documents and policies.

The company’s human rights overall commitments are specifically laid out in the following external and internal documents:

Address all findings and potential impacts

Galp evaluates potential impacts and risks associated with human rights violations. We have conducted human rights impact assessments in our operations which have resulted in the formulation of action plans. All this information is publicly available in the Human Rights Annual Status Report.

Galp acknowledges the complexities of implementing human rights due diligence across its operations and value chain. It is therefore proactively taking steps to systematically identify, assess, prevent, mitigate, and be accountable for its human rights obligations in accordance with established standards. To ensure the effectiveness of its due diligence process, Galp has put together an internal team and enlisted a Human Rights Specialist for specialized guidance aligned with the objectives set out in the Sustainability Roadmap. The 2023-25 roadmap also lays out plans for conducting comprehensive human rights risk assessments across Galp’s operations and value chain, followed by the development and execution of targeted remediation strategies based on the findings of the assessment.

Human Rights Assessment

To ensure that Galp’s businesses properly mitigate the risk of affecting human rights, Galp looks at potential impacts through a human rights framework to assess whether additional mitigation is required. The results of this evaluation forms an integral part of our internal procedures to ensure effective responses to prevent and mitigate these impacts, and monitoring of the effectiveness of those measures.

We are evaluating impacts on human rights in the context of the United Nations Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights (John Ruggie Table). This analysis covers the assessment of all our operations in the countries where we are established – Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Namibia, Portugal, São Tomé and Principe, Spain and Eswatini – and envisages the definition of an action plan to ensure that our practices are aligned with our Human Rights Policy. This work involves:

profiling operations by geography/country;
profiling human rights by geography/country;
identifying impacts and/or risks of the operations profile on the human rights profile by geography/country;
analysis of the implications for human rights;
assessment and risk quantification;
proposed actions to identify measures to mitigate impacts;
identification of the legal requirement and/or regulations which frame each of the impacts/risks;
establishment of grievance mechanisms;
implementation of a stakeholder engagement plan.

Our latest findings

2018 - The assessment included the identification and assessment of human rights risks and impacts on Galp’s operations, including the retail stations, LPG and lubricants storage parks and the minority participating interest ownership in the Hydrocarbons Exploration & Production activities to be carried out in Block 4 of the Rovuma Basin.

2021 - We conducted human rights assessments on Galp operations in Mozambique in which Galp has been present for more than 60 years on the downstream fuels retail businesses, as well as in one of the largest natural gas projects in the world (Rovuma)

The type of issues identified in the assessments were:

Organizational governance
Occupational Health and Safety
Security Arrangements
Community Impacts

For each finding we identified:

Potential sources of Risk
Rights at Risk
Existing Mitigation
Additional Management Measures

2018 - This assessment was directed at the exploratory and appraisal drilling program in the offshore blocks 6 (Galp operator), 5, 11 and 12 (Galp minority stake) with the purpose of identifying the human rights implications in relation to the potential impacts of the project’s footprint and to provide mitigation measures (if required) to reduce the probability of these risks occurring. The objective is therefore to ensure that the rights of stakeholders, directly or indirectly affected by the project, are protected and not negatively impacted by the project. No remediation plan was needed until the current project stage.

The type of issues identified in the assessments were:

Labour Standards
Presence and support to government
Loss of Fishing Livelihoods
Community Health and Safety
Stakeholder Engagement and Access to Remedy

For each finding we identified:

Potential sources of Risk
Rights at Risk
Existing Mitigation
Additional Management Measures

2018 - We have conducted a Human Rights assessment within the scope of NP 4469-1 Certification (Social Responsibility Management System, aligned with ISO 26000) in Portugal and Spain (Gijon and Valencia). This standard focus on 7 relevant aspects, related to social responsibility, namely:

Organizational Governance
Human Rights and Labour Practices (including Safety)
Environment
Fair operational practices
Consumer issues
Engagement and development of communities

No findings were identified in the external audit, related to Human Rights and Labour Practices.
In 2018, we also developed workshops in Portugal and Mozambique focused on grievance mechanisms which comprised among other matters, a framework approach to community consultation. These workshops were directed to a specific group at Galp which in the course of its work is or may be in contact with communities exposed to human rights issues.

2019 - In 2019 we conducted a human rights assessment on the activities of the headquarters of Petrogal Brasil and Rabo Branco field, in which we interviewed workers and service providers on a number of topics including health and safety, child labour, discrimination and diversity, vulnerable groups and communities, among others.
Also, in 2019 we implemented a set of training sessions for the entire organisation on the topic of diversity, namely unconscious bias.

The type of issues identified in the assessments were:

Organizational governance
Occupational Health and Safety
Human Rights and Labour Practices
Engagement and development of communities

For each finding we identified:

Potential sources of Risk
Rights at Risk
Existing Mitigation
Additional Management Measures

2020 - In July 2020 we concluded the human rights assessment in Sonangalp, a JV between Galp and Sonangol. The assessment included interviewing employees and service providers on various topics, including health and safety child labour, discrimination and diversity, vulnerable groups and communities, among others.

The type of issues identified in the assessments were:

Organizational governance
Occupational Health and Safety
Security Arrangements
Community Impacts

For each finding we identified:

Recommendation
Level at Risk

2021 - In 2021 we conducted human rights assessments on the retail and marketing business related Joint-Venture where Galp has a material stake named ENACOL

The type of issues identified in the assessments were:

Organizational governance
Occupational Health and Safety
Security Arrangements
Community Impacts

For each finding we identified:

Potential sources of Risk
Rights at Risk
Existing Mitigation
Additional Management Measures

2021 - In 2021 we conducted human rights assessments on Eswatini, in the hinterland of Mozambique, where Galp carries out fuel distribution activities through one of its subsidiaries.

The type of issues identified in the assessments were:

Organizational governance
Occupational Health and Safety
Security Arrangements
Community Impacts

For each finding we identified:

Potential sources of Risk
Rights at Risk
Existing Mitigation
Additional Management Measures

2021 - In 2021 we conducted human rights assessments on Namibia, where Galp is currently involved in early upstream exploration phases with limited or no physical presence at all through unincorporated Joint-Ventures with other partners.

The type of issues identified in the assessments were:

Organizational governance
Occupational Health and Safety
Security Arrangements
Community Impacts

For each finding we identified:

Potential sources of Risk
Rights at Risk
Existing Mitigation
Additional Management Measures

Spread Human Rights awareness in our ecosystem

As outlined in our Human Rights Policy, Galp is dedicated to spreading awareness of human rights issues within its ecosystem, which encompasses all relevant stakeholders. In 2023, Human Rights was a topic of the Sustainability Committee’s agenda, focused on the requirements of the directive proposal EU CSDDD (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive).

In addition, in 2023, we dedicated around 1,500 hours of training in Human Rights topics to our employees across all geographies.