Without a doubt, these are the "international commitments" most accepted and followed by multinational companies: "OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises", "UN Global Compact" and the "UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights", all of which reflect the assumptions, principles, and values of Responsible Business Conduct (RBC), which has Business Ethics as its greatest and main foundation.
Note that all these international commitments have one thing in common: none of them are "legally binding", that is, accepting and following these "standards of conduct" is a "purely voluntary" attitude for multinational companies.
Despite this "voluntariness", "adherent" multinational companies end up receiving, at no cost, countless benefits, including and mainly, undeniable "reputational" gains with Stakeholders and Shareholders.
However, many, if not most, of these companies, when participating in a "Specific Instance", do not follow the invaluable guidance of the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct to verify that, in fact, the company caused (or did not cause), contributed (or did not contribute) to adverse impacts to the detriment of "one single person" (or a community) who raises the allegation of non-compliance with the OECD Guidelines to an NCP around the world, in the hope of receiving some kind of of "reparation" for the "proven" damages and losses suffered.
So we can conclude that many multinational companies will continue to act freely and with impunity! And that's because the Boards of Directors and the C-Levels, hiding behind "voluntariness", are guaranteed not to run any kind of risk against their most valuable asset: the "corporate image".
On the other hand, this absolutely "comfortable" situation is not envisioned when a multinational company is a "signatory" of the UN Global Compact.
Observe carefully what multinational companies may face if they violate any of the 10 Principles enshrined in the UN Global Compact, all in accordance with the Integrity Measures Policy which provides guidance on "Allegations of Systematic or Egregious Abuses":
"Safeguarding the reputation, integrity and good efforts of the UN Global Compact and its participants requires transparent means to handle credible allegations of systematic or egregious abuse of the UN Global Compact's overall aims and principles. The UN Global Compact Office can assist or provide guidance in this regard, by means of the measures described below.
The purpose of these measures in the first instance always will be to promote continuous quality improvement and assist Participants/Signatories in aligning their actions with the commitments they have undertaken with regard to the Global Compact Ten Principles.
Thus, when a matter is either presented in writing to the Global Compact Office or is raised by the Global Compact Office or a Local Network (active or advanced in status only), the Office will:
- If an allegation of systematic or egregious abuse is found not to be prima facie frivolous or if it is raised by the UN Global Compact or a Local Network, the UN Global Compact Office or Local Network will contact the participating company concerned, requesting:
- Written comments, which should be submitted directly to the party raising the matter, with a copy to the UN Global Compact Office or the Local Network (if the matter is raised by the Local Network);
- That the UN Global Compact Office or the Local Network (if the matter is raised by the Local Network) be kept informed of any actions taken by the participating company to address the situation which is the subject matter of the allegation. If the matter was raised by a third party, the UN Global Compact Office will inform the party raising the matter of the above-described actions taken by the UN Global Compact Office.
- The UN Global Compact Office would be available to provide guidance and assistance, as necessary and appropriate, to the participating company concerned, in taking actions to remedy the situation that is the subject of the matter raised in order to align the actions of the company with its commitments to the UN Global Compact principles. The UN Global Compact Office may, in its sole discretion, take one or more of the following steps, as appropriate:
- Use its own good offices to encourage resolution of the matter;
- Ask the relevant country/regional UN Global Compact Network, or other UN Global Compact participant organization, to assist with the resolution of the matter;
- Refer the matter to one or more of the UN entities that are the guardians of the UN Global Compact principles for advice, assistance or action;
- Share with the parties information about the specific instance procedures of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and, in the case of matters relating to the labour principles, the interpretation procedure under the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy;
- Refer the matter to the UN Global Compact Board, drawing in particular on the expertise and recommendations of its business members;
- As a last resort, after consultation with the UN Global Compact Board, in cases where the alleged abuse is admitted by an authorized company representative or is the subject of a finding of guilt by a competent court of other body, and meets the criteria in the FAQs of a systematic or egregious abuse, delist the company from the UN Global Compact.
If the participating company concerned refuses to engage in dialogue on the matter within three months of first being contacted by the UN Global Compact Office under subparagraph above, it may be regarded as "non-communicating", and would be "identified" as such on the UN Global Compact website until such time as a dialogue commences.
If, as a result of the process outlined above and/or based on the review of the nature of the matter submitted and the responses by the participating company, the continued listing of the participating company on the UN Global Compact website is considered to be detrimental to the reputation and integrity of the UN Global Compact, the UN Global Compact Office reserves the right to "remove" that company from the list of participants and to so indicate on the UN Global Compact website.A participating company that is designated "non-communicating" or is "removed from the list of participants" will not be allowed to use the UN Global Compact name or logo if such permission had been granted.
If the participating company concerned has subsequently taken appropriate actions to remedy the situation that is the subject matter of the allegation and has aligned its actions with the commitments it has undertaken with regard to the UN Global Compact principles, the company may seek reinstatement as an "active" participant to the UN Global Compact and to the "list of participants" on the UN Global Compact website".
For all the reasons presented here, I suggest that the OECD WPRBC (and the OECD advisory bodies) be "inspired" by the UN Global Compact and present "new guidelines" to the OECD's "Department of Responsible Business Conduct" with the purpose of defining "Integrity Measures Policy" for companies that adhere to the OECD Guidelines and, in this way, drastically reduce the power imbalance between Submitter and Respondent, with the imposition of "penalties" to those multinational companies that commit duly proven systematic or flagrant adverse impacts, for the OECD Guidelines cannot serve only to grant reputational gains to adherent companies, including, of course, the Italian oil giant ENI.
