The end of corporate impunity is coming

Transnational corporations act with a high degree of impunity

The treaties for investment protection and “free” trade signed by states favor the interests of transnational corporations by granting them rights and privileges, without requiring them in return to assume responsibilities. There is no international regulation that obliges transnational corporations to respect human rights or the environment.

As a result, there is an asymmetry between human rights and the interests of transnational corporations, which persists at the international level. This allows the companies to carry out operations such as to pollute the environment and evade taxes, in a systematic and unpunished manner.

The economic power of transnational corporations active in all sectors allows them to put pressure on governments, being able to resort to a series of mechanisms such as revolving doors and corruption. Thus, although states are the guarantors of human rights compliance, legislation is fragile both in impoverished countries and in the most enriched countries.

Towards a Binding Treaty

Communities affected by the activities of transnational corporations and organizations working to protect of Human Rights, have come together to demand an international legally binding treaty that allows states to fulfill their obligation to protect human and environmental rights against the harmful activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises.

From October 23 to 27 we will be in Geneva in The Week of Peoples Mobilisation, which coincides with the Third Session of the Intergovernmental Working Group with the mandate to develop a United Nations Binding Treaty for Transnational Corporations and other business enterprises with respect to Human Rights.

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