OECD National Contact Point

Advisory body and mediator

Frode Elgesem, Member of Norwegian Contact Point

Corporate Social Responsibilty – in a nutshell

• Contribute to sustainable development

• Avoid negative impact – do no harm.

• The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Entereprises are recommendations addressed by governments to the enterprises

• The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Entereprises express shared values of the governments (46 OECD and non-OECD countries)

• Purpose of UN Guiding Principles on Busieness and Human Rughts and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Entereprises: To protect people from harm from corporate activities.

46 national contact points

The aim of the Guidelines is to promote positive contribution by entreprises to economic, environmental and social progress

Why should businesses follow the Guidelines? • Do the right thing – ”our shared values”

• The Guidelines are comprehensive tools for:• avoiding harm being caused and • to maintain coherence between the

company’s assurnaces to the market and its actual performance.

• Avoid criminal prosecution

• Avoid debarment from public contracts

• Protect the company’s reputation

• Strengthen the mutual conficence between the enterprises and the societies in which they operate

Building a school or a well – social responsability or buying your way out ?

??

The OECD guidelines • The broadest set of recommendations for

responsible business

• Goal : Private sector promotes sustainable development

• How to : Respect :

Environment Human Rights

Labour Rights and Working Conditions

Laws against corruption and bribes

General Policies (excerpts)

• Refrain from seeking unwarranted exemptions.

• Develop an apply effective self-regulatory practices and management.

• Promote awareness and compliance through dissemination of policies, and training.

• Refrain from dicrimination or diciplinary adtion against whistle-blowers.

• Carry out risk-base due dilligence to identfy, prevent, and mitigate actual and potential adverse impacts on third parties.

• An ongoing, both proactive and reactive, and process-oriented activity; itg is to be carried out throughout the entire life-cycle of operations, products and services.

General Policies (excerpts)

• Avoid causing or contributing to adverse impacts of own activity and address such impacts when they occur.

• Seek to prevent or mitigate an adverse impact not caused by the enterprise itself, but when that impact is nevertheless linked to its operations, products or services by a business relationship.

• Encourage business partners, including suppliers and sub-contractoirs, to apply principles of responsible business conduct compatible with the Guidelines.

• Engage with relevant stakeholders in order to provide meaningful opportunities for their views to be taken into account.

The Guideliens may come into play in different ways

Cause

Contribute toyMedvirke til

Involved

Risk that the company may:

• Poor working conditions

• Environmental consequences

or Human rights violations

• Corruption

Human Rights

• Have a policy commitment.

• Respect human rights.

• Avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts and address such impacts when they occur.

• Seek ways to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their business operations, products or services by a business relationship.

• Carry out human rights due dilligence.

• Remediation of human rights impacts.

Human Rights

• Reference should be made at a minimum to:• The International Bill of Rights:

• The Universal Decleration of Human Rights, • The International Covenant on Civil and Political

Rights and• The International Covenant on Economic, Social

and Cultural Rights.

• The core ILO conventions as set oiut in the 1998 International Labour Organisation Declaration on Funsamental Pirnciples and Rights at Work.

Norway’s National Contact Point – Structure and Resources

Independent Organization of the Norwegian NCP• Four independent members appointed

• Appointment by the Foreign Minister• In cooperation with other relevant ministries

(Trade and Finance)

• Current Members:• One law professor as chair• One member nominated by the

employer/business side• One member nominated by the trade union

side• One independent lawyer nominated by civil

society organizations

Separate Secretariat

• Separate Secretariat with 2-3 persons fulltime• paid by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs• Cannot be instructed by the Ministry, only by

the Contact Point

• Currently located in the building of the Ministry• Was and will again be separately located

• Co-location with other Human Rights Institutions is contemplated in the Government Human Rights Action Plan

Finances

• Separate budget

• For 2015: 4 Mill NOK (430.000 EUR)

• Selected activities• Information to business• Handling cases• Participating in conferences• Human Rights Due Diligence Workshop for

selected companies• Including consultancy activities

Complaints to National Contact Point

• Who may file a complaint?

• What is the nature of the complaint ?

• Experiences with cases

Complaints procedure

Examples:Fivas vs Norconsult

Why did the NGO FIVAS file a complaint against the engineering firm Norconsult?

• Norconsult not in line with OECD guidelines ?

• Hydropower construction in Malaysia, forced

eviction of indigenous people

• What are the OECD requirements ?

• Role of Norconsult ?

Successful mediation

Jijnevaerie village vs Statkraft

Environment vs tradition

• Jijnevaerie village vs Statkraft ; construction of windmill power stations

• Do the power stations destroy traditional livelihoods?

• The swedish courts ruled in favour of Statkraft

• Mediation in Norwegian Contact Point

Result of mediation

• Mediation unsuccessful

• NCP issues statement

• Norway and Sweden handle the case

• Has Statkraft complied with OECD guidelines?• What do the guidelines say regarding

indigenous rights ? • Requirements for the company to investigate

?• Windpower and traditions ; side by side?

OECDs guidelines - recap

• Recommendations accepted by 46 member countries

• Companies with international activity

• Global scope

• A tool for mitigating social and environmental risk

• Unique mechanism for handling of complaints

Three tasks for the NCP

• Communicating the guidelines to the public

and stakeholders

• Handle cases through dialogue and mediation

• Cooperate with OECD and other NCPs

Norwegian Contact Point, Mars 2015

• Impartial panel of experts + secretariat

Mediation final statement•Fivas vs Norconsult•Committee for West-Sahara vs Sjøvik•Nature foundation vs Cermaq

Ongoing• J

ijnjevaerie vs Statkraft

Concluded and final statement• U

nited Steel Workers vs NBIM

• Cotton Campaign vs NBIM

• ForUM vs NBIM

• NGO «Fremtiden i våre hender» vs Intex

Rejected• N

orwegian climate network vs Statoil

• Roma vs Norwegian Church Aid (Kirkens nødhjelp)

• Anonomys plaintiff

Cases since 2011

How can we help ?

• Inform

• Facilitate mediation between parties

• Manage the cases

• Provide courses and workshops in due diligence and risk mitigation.

Pilotprosjekt Human Rights Due

Diligence

www.ansvarlignæringsliv.no

OECDNCP@mfa.no