Corporate Accountability

In partnership with various NGOs, FIELD has been involved in advancing research into the issue of corporate accountability, and specifically into the options for developing a binding international legal framework. Concerned that the existing (largely voluntary) approaches to controlling the activities of multinational enterprises do not provide sufficient incentives for environmentally and socially responsible corporate behaviour, FIELD is investigating options for the development of legal mechanisms that will ensure that multinationals adhere to certain environmental and social requirements.

Another aspect of FIELD's work on this issue involves looking at international approaches to liability and redress for environmental harm to communities, and legal mechanisms that will guarantee communities' access to justice.

In the run up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002, FIELD lawyers took part in multistakeholder dialogues on corporate accountability. Governments at WSSD recognised the need for urgent action to actively promote corporate accountability through the development and implementation of intergovernmental agreements and national regulations. As the international community acts on this World Summit pledge, the need to develop means of redress for corporate harm will be raised in the context of a range of intergovernmental processes in 2003 and beyond.

On 9 July 2003, FIELD, in collaboration with Christian Aid and the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), co-hosted a legal workshop in London addressing the social and environmental impact of multinational corporations and looking at their possible regulation in an international context. The workshop focused primarily on the activities of multinationals operating in developing countries, and looked at the variety of problems arising from their activities. The objective of the legal workshop was to produce an outline of the elements required for the international regulation of multinationals. Click here for the Workshop Agenda, and watch this space for the Workshop Report.

A follow up policy workshop was held in November to encourage the NGO community to look at policy options and models for multinational regulation. NGOs also analysed possible joint advocacy strategies, examining strengths and deficiencies of UN Human Rights Norms on Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and OECD Guidelines as well as the achievements and challenges faced by coalitions such as ‘Publish What You Pay’, CORE, the Global Reporting Initiative and The Global Compact.

NOW AVAILABLE! Read Alice Palmer's paper on "Community Redress and Multinational Enterprises", commissioned by Christian Aid and Friends of the Earth to examine the options for and obstacles to international approaches to community redress for the harmful effects of multinationals' activities. Available here in PDF.

For more background information on corporate accountability and related issues, see the following links: Friends of the Earth International Position Paper and the Christian Aid Policy Brief for the World Economic Forum and the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

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