International Labour Law and Globalisation
Lecture 9 – Agreements on International Responsible Business Conduct [Guest Lecture]
Introduction
- Manuella appiah (LL.M.)
- Team lead, extractives sector agreements, social and economic council (SER)
- Alumni UVT (international and European public law)
- Professional interests
o Policy, research and practice
o The intersection of business and human rights
Structure of the presentation
- Introduction to international responsible business conduct (international RBC)
- Exercise
Break
- Multi-stakeholder sector agreements in the Netherlands (background, process and content)
o Implementing the natural stones and gold agreement (selected cases)
- International responsible business conduct: developments & challenges
International RBC in the news
We all deal with it more than we think
Talks about the supply chains
Example:
Iphone 6 suppliers apple
- Materials that make up the iphone 11 materials
- Take these materials from many countries
- Big supply chain
- Responsibility for who?
What is responsible business conduct (RBC)?
- RBC entails business actions which are consistent with applicable laws and internationally
recognised standards
- Its based on the idea that you can do well while doing no harm
- It’s a broad concept, that focuses on 2 aspects of the business-society relationship:
1. Positive contribution businesses can make to sustainable development and inclusive
growth
AND
2. Avoiding negative impacts and addressing them when they do occur
- Risk-based due diligence and value creation are at the heart of this process
, international RBC Expectations
RBC (Responsible Business Conduct)
doesn’t look at philanthropic part; not
exactly the same as CSR (Corporate
Social Responsibility)
International RBC expectation:
regulatory developments
- 2010 Dodd-Frank Act section 1502
- 2014 EU Directive on Non-financial
reporting
- 2015 UK Modern Slavery Act
- French Law on the Corporate Duty of
Vigilance 2017
- EU Conflict Minerals Regulation
- UN Business and Human Rights Treaty (under development)
- Dutch Child Labour Due Diligence Law (2019)
The basic frameworks
Thee pillars of human rights:
Government: ‘duty to protect’
Businesses ‘responsibility to respect’
‘Access to remedy’
Expectations from the UNGPs / OECD Guidelines
Outline a risk management approach for identifying, preventing and addressing negative
impacts
Require the establishment of grievance mechanisms either at operational level or e.g.
through National Contact Points (enabling access of victims to remedy)
Broadly, covers topics including human rights, employment and industrial relations, the
environment and corruption
“Governments adhering to the Guidelines encourage the enterprises operating in their
territories to observe the Guidelines wherever they operate”
Doing harm means you are NOT doing good
Examples of risks / impacts
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