1.6.2 By international organisations

The UN adopted the MDGs in 2000. Not only are these directed at States, they also address the corporate world and encourage companies to contribute to the achievement of the goals by 2015.

International organisations have also promulgated concrete guidelines for businesses in order to stimulate corporate socially responsible behaviour. In 2000, the UN set up the Global Compact Network, including the Global Compact Principles, and the OECD updated its MNE Guidelines.1 The SubCommission of the former UN Commission on Human Rights unanimously adopted the Norms on the Responsibility of Transnational Companies and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights' in 2003.2 Another example is the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), initiated in 1997 by the UN Environmental Program (UNEP) and CERES.3 GRI has developed reporting guidelines for companies to assist them in disclosing non-financial information about the way they pursue their activities. The guidelines address environmental and social conduct, but also include other subjects, e.g. corruption and human rights (GRI Guidelines). The ethical standards communicated in all of these international documents contributed to the building of an international normative framework.

Another international approach to business was the following. In 2005, the UN General Assembly appointed Professor John Ruggie as the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on human rights and business, to define a position on business and human rights. After extensive consultation rounds with international organisations, scientists, business actors and NGOs, he issued some relevant reports on the theme. They set out a framework ' Protect, Respect and Remedy' on how to approach the different and intermingled roles of governments and companies regarding human rights.4 Ruggie's approach stipulates that companies should apply due diligence to human rights compliance in conducting their own activities, and in particular when pursuing business opportunities in countries where the Rule of Law is not well established.