Clean Trade
Trustees Report and Financial Statements
Financial period: 1[st] September 2022 – 31[st] August 2023
Charitable Incorporated Organisa?on Registra?on number 1177571
Reference & Administra?ve Details:
Board of Trustees:
Prof. Leif Wenar (Chair) (indefinite appointment) Mr. Paul Jourdan (reappointed 23rd June 2023 for a five year term) Mr. Richard Meeran (re-appointed on 17th June 2022 for a four-year term) Dr. Octavio Ferraz (re-appointed on 18[th] June 2021 for a three-year term)
Chief Execu?ve: Mr. Andrew Togher
Registered Office: 78 Offord Road London N1 1EB
Principal Bankers: Virgin Money 154 – 158 Kensington High Street London W8 7RL
Type of Governing Document: Cons?tu?on of a Charitable Incorporated Organisa?on whose only vo?ng members are its charity trustees
INTRODUCTION
The Trustees of Clean Trade present their report and accounts for the financial period 1[st] September 2022 - 31[st] August 2023.
Clean Trade was incorporated as a Charitable Incorporated Organisa?on on the 14[th] March 2018. The trustees would like to offer sincere thanks to all those involved in suppor?ng Clean Trade, for their hard work since then in seeking to establish the right of peoples to benefit from their countries’ natural wealth and resources.
Objec?ves for the financial period ending 31[st] August 2023 were to con?nue research and outreach to put into ac?on the strategy agreed by the Trustees in September 2019. Funding was retained to allow opera?ons to con?nue in the following financial year 2023-24.
The core strategy of engagement with the United Na?ons Human Rights Treaty Bodies had been derailed by the global pandemic, but in 2022 Clean Trade was able to hold successful events involving the United Na?ons Human Rights Treaty Bodies, investors and the legal profession. These contacts were the founda?on of work carried out during the 2022-23 financial year.
Governance
Clean Trade was formed using the standard Founda?on cons?tu?on for Charitable Incorporated Organisa?ons (CIOs) provided by the Charity Commission of England & Wales. The charity was formed with four trustees who will each serve terms as listed above, as founding trustees. The charity has been formed as a CIO whose only vo?ng membership is its charity trustees. The founding trustees were selected by the Chair based on their respec?ve sets of exper?se; future trustees will be selected based on their relevant exper?se and will be appointed by the exis?ng Board of Trustees.
Policies & Procedures
Clean Trade has in place policies and procedures on the following subjects:
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General Data Protec?on Regula?ons
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Fundraising
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Health & Safety
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Whistleblowing, Complaints & Safeguarding
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Risk Management
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An?-Money Laundering
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Conflicts of Interests
As the charity currently has no direct employees, with staff working on a consultancy and/or voluntary basis, human resources policies are not yet required.
Objec@ves
The trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in Sec?on 17(5) of the Chari?es Act 2011 and the Chari?es (Accounts and Reports) Regula?ons 2008 to have due regard to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit.
The charitable objects set out in Clean Trade’s incorpora?on documents are:
To promote human rights (as set out in the Universal Declara?on of Human Rights, the Interna?onal Covenant on Civil and Poli?cal Rights and the Interna?onal Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and subsequent United Na?ons conven?ons and declara?ons), and in par?cular the right of all peoples to enjoy and u?lise fully and freely their natural wealth and resources, so that they may for their own ends freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources.
The ac?vi?es Clean Trade has pursued for the public benefit during the financial period of 1[st] September 2022 – 31[st] August 2023, were in pursuance of these charitable objects.
Background and mission
By 2012, the world’s leading resource-rich states outside the West were on average no richer, no freer and no more peaceful than they were even in 1980. What drives these failures is who controls resource revenues in these states. In most major resource-expor?ng states, the revenues are controlled by authoritarian regimes and armed groups that are en?rely unaccountable to the people of the country; this empowers them to be more oppressive or violent or corrupt. Authoritarians and armed groups in countries that export high-value extrac?ves - oil, metals and gems - can ignore their ci?zen’s rights while sponsoring wars and terrorism that impact the security and prosperity of people around the world.
Most civil wars, most authoritarian regimes, most hunger crises, and most highly corrupt governments are in countries rich with oil, metals or gems. These countries are also the source of most of the world’s refugees and will soon be home to most of the world’s extreme poverty.
Western consumers sponsor misrule when they buy products - from oil to mobile phones - without knowing where their raw materials come from, or that they are sending trillions of dollars a year through supply chains to fund authoritarian regimes. Stolen resources make their way into every facet of daily lives across the world.
Since the 17[th] century, na?onal trade laws made it legal to buy natural resources from anyone who has control over them, even if the control is by force. This rule of ‘might makes right’ is what gives legi?macy to the purchase of resources from oppressive regimes and armed groups. Other forms of ‘might makes right,’ such as the slave trade and colonial rule, have long been abolished in interna?onal law—yet coercionbased trade in resources remains the interna?onal norm today.
Fortunately, the language of interna?onal Human Rights law is clear: it insists that it is the people, and not the powerful, who have the ul?mate right to control the resources of their country. Clean Trade works to bring resource trade into the modern era by increasing recogni?on of the human right of all peoples to the natural resources of their country. Countries where the people can hold their government accountable for resource exports are much less likely to suffer authoritarian rule, grand corrup?on, civil war, and their resul?ng tragedies.
Clean Trade’s vision is for a world in which all peoples can hold accountable those who sell off their natural resources. Our mission is to see ci?zens’ rights to their natural resources respected worldwide, as a mamer of na?onal and interna?onal law.
Strategy
Clean Trade’s strategy seeks to promote peoples’ rights to their natural resource wealth. These rights in interna?onal law are based on the human rights trea?es that form part of the Interna?onal Bill of Human Rights: the Interna?onal Conven?on on Civil & Poli?cal Rights (ICCPR) and its Op?onal Protocols, and the Interna?onal Conven?on on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Clean Trade’s aim is to seek clarifica?on of the natural resource rights elements of these Human Rights trea?es. We focused on the ar?cles affirming the resource rights of peoples, common to both trea?es. Ar?cle 1.2 of both trea?es states:
All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources… In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.
Such clarifica?on would underpin and bring credibility to our quest for legal remedies, for government legisla?on, and help bring about the adop?on of natural resource rights in business and investor standards. The route to achieve this is to prepare the case for a General Comment or other clarifica?on on the interpreta?on of the ar?cles affirming the resource rights of peoples, to be made by one or both of the two relevant UN Treaty Body Commimees (CESCR and HRC). We were fortunate to be joined by Prof. Jérémie Gilbert who is based at Roehampton University London, and has extensive experience in this area.
Our strategy focuses on engagement with the key UN commimees, investors and the legal profession. These strands reinforce each other.
Ac@vi@es and achievements
In June 2022 Clean Trade, the Transna?onal Law Ins?tute at King’s College London, Ama? Global Investors and Leigh Day Solicitors organised three events. These events built new rela?onships and explored opportuni?es to work with the UN human rights commimees, investors, and lawyers.
We built on this work in FY 2022-3.
Brazil was also due to report to the Commimee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) in September/October 2023. In August 2023 Clean Trade submimed a shadow report to comment on Brazil’s report to the autumn mee?ng of the CESCR.
The UN Human Rights Commimees regularly review country reports on human rights, and civil society organisa?ons are encouraged to present shadow reports
commen?ng on the countries’ submissions. Following discussions with UN commimee members present at Clean Trade’s June 2022 event, Brazil’s report to the Human Rights Commimee was iden?fied as an opportunity to present a shadow report, and in doing so set out our interpreta?on of Ar?cles 1.2 and 47 of the Interna?onal Covenant on Civil and Poli?cal Rights.
Octavio Ferraz used his contacts in Brazil to partner on the report with Terra de Direitos, a leading Brazilian NGO. Octavio, Leif and Jeremie together with 14 Masters students from the Transna?onal Law Ins?tute (TLI) at King’s College London worked on the report, incorpora?ng earlier work by Andy Togher. This was submimed for the Human Rights Commimee to consider in July 2023. Octavio and TLI students amended the session in Geneva, and Octavio presented to the commimee. The mee?ng raised the profile and credibility of Clean Trade, as well as that of our partners, and the report had a significant impact on the thinking of the commimee members. The HRC men?oned the issues raised in the report extensively, with a broad discussion of natural resources and related rights in the Concluding Observa?ons of the session.
In September 2023 Clean Trade submimed a response to the ‘Issues Paper on Sustainable Development’ circulated by the CESCR Draping Group. This was well received, and has deepened our rela?onship with the CESCR.
In late October 2023 Brazil was due to report to the UN Commimee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). To build on the success of the earlier HRC shadow report, Clean Trade submimed a shadow report for the CESCR in August 2023.
To illustrate the injus?ce found in Brazil and broaden our work to include prac?cal solu?ons, Clean Trade supported the Associação dos Artesãos e Extra?vistas do Rio Jauaperi (AARJ), an established Brazilian organisa?on, on a mission in the Amazon to help local popula?ons to protect the river and the forest from illegal fishers and loggers.
Outreach with stakeholders con?nued. Clean Trade representa?ves amended conferences and networking events with investor bodies such as the UK Sustainable Investment Forum, and contributed to strategy development with Publish What You Pay, which makes collec?ve representa?ons promo?ng transparency, to governments and gatherings such as the G7 mee?ngs.
Funds and Fundraising
Contact was maintained with funders, with updates and input to the Joffe Trust and Polden Puckham Charitable Founda?on. Expenses were kept as low as possible and considerable pro-bono work has been volunteered by the team. Spend through the financial year totalled £8431, covering consultancy, event expenses and support for a project in Brazil. The Financial Year ended with £11,021 in the bank.
People
Leif Wenar, Octavio Ferraz and Jérémie Gilbert con?nued in their roles at Stanford, King’s College London and Roehampton Universi?es respec?vely, while working with Clean Trade on a pro-bono basis. Andy Togher works on a consultancy/pro bono basis according to budget available.
We are extremely fortunate to have ac?ve and commimed Trustees in the investment, legal and academic worlds, and we extend grateful thanks for their advice and par?cipa?on to Paul Jourdan, Richard Meeran and Octavio Ferraz. Our Chair, Leif Wenar, con?nues to be the driving force behind Clean Trade and his involvement is very grateful appreciated.
Risk
Risks are monitored closely by both trustees and colleagues. The following risks were iden?fied as requiring monitoring and mi?ga?on strategies:
| Risk: | Mi?ga?on Strategy: |
|---|---|
| Changing composi?on of UN Treaty Bodies lessens possibility of agreement on a General Comment |
Seek clarifca?on of Ar?cles 1.2 via shadow reports; encourage supporters on treaty bodies to incorporate suppor?ve language into current drap General Comments. |
| Insufcient funds to con?nue at current level with paid contractors and to pursue planned workstreams. |
The team controls expenditure and dedicates signifcant resource to fundraising outreach. |
| Loss of core team member | Other members have agreed to take on increased responsibility if necessary, and arrangements would be made where possible to move the colleague into a trustee or advisory role to retain knowledge, skills and rela?onships. |
| Loss of access to research and facili?es provided by Trustees. |
Replacement of pro bono resources would require increased fundraising. The progress shown to date in the delivery of our strategy will increase fund raising opportuni?es. |
|---|---|
Financial review
Clean Trade ended its fiph financial year with cash available at £11,021. This is sufficient to support ac?vity at current levels for the next financial year and beyond.
There were no debts or financial commitments.
Signed: Leif Wenar (Chair) 21/6/2024
| No(if any) | No(if any) | CC16a | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clean Trade | ||||||||||
| Receipts and payments accounts | ||||||||||
| For the period from | Period start date | To | ||||||||
| 1-Sep-22 | 31-Aug-23 | |||||||||
| Section A Receipts and payments | ||||||||||
| Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds | Endowment funds | Total funds | Last year | ||||||
| to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | ||||||
| A1 Receipts | ||||||||||
| - 0 | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - 0 | - | - | ||||||||
| - 0 | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - 0 | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - 0 | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - 0 | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - 0 | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - 0 | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| Sub total(Gross income for AR) | - 0 |
- | - | - | - | |||||
| A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). |
||||||||||
| n/a | - 0 | - 0 | - 0 | - | ||||||
| - 0 | - 0 | - 0 | - | - 0 | ||||||
| Sub total | - 0 |
- 0 | - 0 | - | - 0 | |||||
| Total receipts | - 0 | - 0 | - | - 0 | ||||||
| A3 Payments | ||||||||||
| Expenses events June 2022 | 591 | - | 591 | 10 | ||||||
| Expenses events June 2022 | 840 | - | - | 840 | ||||||
| Brazilian AARJ project | 1,000 | - | - | 1,000 | - | |||||
| Consultancy A Togher | 6,000 | - | - | 6,000 | - | |||||
| - 0 | - | - | - | |||||||
| - 0 | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - 0 | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - 0 | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| - 0 | - | - | - | - | ||||||
| **Sub total ** | 8,431 |
- | - | 8,431 | 10 | |||||
| A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
||||||||||
| CCXX R accounts (SS) 1 |
1 |
15/06/2023
| n/a | - 0 | - 0 | - 0 | - | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - 0 | - 0 | - 0 | - | |||||||
| **Sub total ** | - 0 |
- 0 | - 0 | - | - 0 | |||||
| **Total payments ** | 8,431 |
- 0 | - 0 | 8,431 | 10 | |||||
| **Net of receipts/(payments) ** | - 8,431 |
- | - | - 8,431 |
- 10 |
|||||
| A5 Transfers between funds | - 0 | - | - | - | - | |||||
| A6 Cash funds last year end | 19,452 | - | - | 19,452 | 19,462 | |||||
| **Cash funds this year end ** | 11,021 |
- | - | 11,021 | 19,452 | |||||
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | ||||||||||
| Categories | Details | Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds | Endowment funds |
||||||
| to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | ||||||||
| B1 Cash funds | Cash in bank (at 31 Aug 2023) | 11,021 | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| Total cash funds | 11,021 | - | - | |||||||
| (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
ok | OK | ||||||||
| Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds | Endowment funds |
||||||||
| Details | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | |||||||
| B2 Other monetary assets | No other monetary assets | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| Details | Fund to which asset belongs |
Cost (optional) | Current value (optional) |
|||||||
| B3 Investment assets | No investment assets | - | - | |||||||
| - | - |
| n/a | - 0 | - 0 | - 0 | - | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - 0 | - 0 | - 0 | - | |||||||
| **Sub total ** | - 0 |
- 0 | - 0 | - | - 0 | |||||
| **Total payments ** | 8,431 |
- 0 | - 0 | 8,431 | 10 | |||||
| **Net of receipts/(payments) ** | - 8,431 |
- | - | - 8,431 |
- 10 |
|||||
| A5 Transfers between funds | - 0 | - | - | - | - | |||||
| A6 Cash funds last year end | 19,452 | - | - | 19,452 | 19,462 | |||||
| **Cash funds this year end ** | 11,021 |
- | - | 11,021 | 19,452 | |||||
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | ||||||||||
| Categories | Details | Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds | Endowment funds |
||||||
| to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | ||||||||
| B1 Cash funds | Cash in bank (at 31 Aug 2023) | 11,021 | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| Total cash funds | 11,021 | - | - | |||||||
| (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
ok | OK | ||||||||
| Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds | Endowment funds |
||||||||
| Details | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | |||||||
| B2 Other monetary assets | No other monetary assets | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| Details | Fund to which asset belongs |
Cost (optional) | Current value (optional) |
|||||||
| B3 Investment assets | No investment assets | - | - | |||||||
| - | - |
| n/a | - 0 | - 0 | - 0 | - | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - 0 | - 0 | - 0 | - | |||||||
| **Sub total ** | - 0 |
- 0 | - 0 | - | - 0 | |||||
| **Total payments ** | 8,431 |
- 0 | - 0 | 8,431 | 10 | |||||
| **Net of receipts/(payments) ** | - 8,431 |
- | - | - 8,431 |
- 10 |
|||||
| A5 Transfers between funds | - 0 | - | - | - | - | |||||
| A6 Cash funds last year end | 19,452 | - | - | 19,452 | 19,462 | |||||
| **Cash funds this year end ** | 11,021 |
- | - | 11,021 | 19,452 | |||||
| Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period | ||||||||||
| Categories | Details | Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds | Endowment funds |
||||||
| to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | ||||||||
| B1 Cash funds | Cash in bank (at 31 Aug 2023) | 11,021 | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| Total cash funds | 11,021 | - | - | |||||||
| (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
ok | OK | ||||||||
| Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds | Endowment funds |
||||||||
| Details | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | to nearest £ | |||||||
| B2 Other monetary assets | No other monetary assets | - | - | - | ||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| - | - | - | ||||||||
| Details | Fund to which asset belongs |
Cost (optional) | Current value (optional) |
|||||||
| B3 Investment assets | No investment assets | - | - | |||||||
| - | - |
CCXX R2 accounts (SS)
15/06/2023
2
| - | - | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | |||||||||
| - | - | |||||||||
| Details | Fund to which asset belongs |
Cost (optional) | Current value (optional) |
|||||||
| B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use |
No retained assets | - | - | |||||||
| - | - | |||||||||
| - | - | |||||||||
| - | - | |||||||||
| - | - | |||||||||
| - | - | |||||||||
| - | - | |||||||||
| - | - | |||||||||
| - | - | |||||||||
| Details | Fund to which liability relates |
Amount due (optional) |
When due (optional) |
|||||||
| B5 Liabilities | No liabilities | - | ||||||||
| - | ||||||||||
| - | ||||||||||
| - | ||||||||||
| - | ||||||||||
| Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Signature | Print Name | Date of approval | |||||||
| 6 | ||||||||||
| Leif Wenar | 20-Jun-24 | |||||||||
CCXX R3 accounts (SS)
15/06/2023
3