Multinational enterprises and sustainable development

There have been some encouraging responses by corporations to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Johnston indicates that 38 governments have adhered to the guidelines and these governments make a commitment to promote them among multinational enterprises operating in or from their jurisdiction.168 He argues that: The Guidelines promote appropriate international business conduct by raising incentives for acting responsibly and by helping companies understand what appropriate conduct is.169 However, even though these guidelines may encourage the development of national practice in corporate social responsibility amongst some nations over time, this development of ‘soft’ law towards ‘hard’ law will be too slow to alleviate many environmental problems which need urgent attention. These guidelines also do not assist where action is directed against the finance provider to the offending company. Five community groups filed a complaint under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises against the ANZ Bank because it supported the logging operations of a company operating in Papua New Guinea. However, the Australian National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines indicated that they could not ascertain the amount of influence that the ANZ Bank had over its client and so rejected the complaint.170 The development of CSR is a topical matter in many countries171 and some states have already introduced requirements to ensure that there is adequate CSR reporting on the part of business enterprises.172 Action needs to be taken now by MNEs to commit to their responsibilities to prevent deterioration of the environment and to maintain resources and an adequate environment for future generations. In order to achieve sustainable development all sectors of society need to be involved in joint action. Clearly sustainable development cannot be achieved, nor can environmental degradation be prevented, without genuine commitments to corporate environmental responsibility and accountability.173