The State of Remedy Under the OECD Guidelines: Understanding NCP Cases Concluded in 2019 through the Lens of Remedy

The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (Guidelines) are a set of recommendations from governments to businesses on responsible business conduct (RBC). In theory, the Guidelines have tremendous potential to strengthen the global system of governance of corporate activity and behaviour. Extra-territorial in coverage and broad in scope across all sectors and value chains, the Guidelines set strong expectations for corporations to prevent, remediate and account for the harmful impacts of their operations. The Guidelines also create a government-backed grievance mechanism, in the form of an NCP at each OECD member and adhering country, to help resolve disputes between companies and the communities and workers negatively impacted by their conduct.