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Interview with John G. Ruggie*

Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, Former Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Business and Human Rights.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 August 2013

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Abstract

The conduct of multinational corporations, particularly those operating in conflict areas, is increasingly becoming subject to public scrutiny. More and more companies profess a commitment to live up to their human rights responsibilities in fragile contexts. In situations of armed conflict, international humanitarian law also applies. The business sector is, however, relatively less aware of this body of law.

In June 2011, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted unanimously the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which spell out what measures companies and states could take to strengthen the human rights performance of the business sector around the world.1 The Review wanted to hear from the person who spearheaded this initiative, Professor John G. Ruggie, and have his views on any emerging good practices amongst governments and companies in implementing the Guiding Principles, on the importance of due diligence criteria and grievance mechanisms, and on the role of regional organisations and civil society in promoting the Principles.

Trained as a political scientist, Professor Ruggie has made significant contributions to the study of international relations, focusing on the impact of economic and other forms of globalisation on global rule-making and the emergence of new rule-makers. In addition to his academic pursuits, Professor Ruggie has long been involved in practical policy work. From 1997–2001, he served as UN Assistant Secretary-General for Strategic Planning, assisting the Secretary-General in establishing and overseeing the UN Global Compact, and proposing and gaining General Assembly approval for the Millennium Development Goals. In 2005, Professor Ruggie was appointed as the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Business and Human Rights. Over the course of six years and after extensive research, consultations, and work on pilot projects, Professor Ruggie developed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Today, he chairs the boards of two non-profits, the Institute for Human Rights and Business and Shift: Putting Principles into Practice, and serves as Senior Advisor to the corporate social responsibility practice of the law firm Foley Hoag LLP.

Type
Business, Violence and Conflict
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 94 , Issue 887: Business, violence and conflict , September 2012 , pp. 891 - 902
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2013 

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Footnotes

*

This interview was conducted at Harvard University in Boston on 29 March 2012 by Vincent Bernard, Editor-in-Chief of the International Review of the Red Cross, and Mariya Nikolova, Editorial Assistant.

References

1 See UN Doc. A/HRC/17/31, Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy' Framework, 21 March 2011, unanimously endorsed by the United Nations Human Rights Council on 16 June 2011.

2 Editor's Note: The UN Human Rights Council resolution endorsing the Guiding Principles (UN Doc. A/HRC/RES/17/4, 6 July 2011) also established a UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, whose key mandate is to promote the effective and comprehensive dissemination and implementation of the Guiding Principles.

3 See Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, available at: http://www.business-humanrights.org/SpecialRepPortal/Home.

4 Editor's Note: The ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ framework was elaborated in UN Doc. A/HRC/8/5, 7 April 2008, and is discussed in detail in Rachel Davis’ contribution in this edition.

5 The OECD Guidelines are available to consult online at: http://www.oecd.org/daf/internationalinvestment/guidelinesformultinationalenterprises/oecdguidelinesformultinationalenterprises.htm (last visited June 2012).

6 For examples, see http://accountabilityroundtable.org/campaigns/human-rights-due-diligence (last visited June 2012); and SOMO, CEDHA, Cividep, ‘How to use the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights in company research and advocacy’, due to be published in 2012.

7 For example, see International Trade Union Confederation, ‘The UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” framework for business and human rights and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: a guide for trade unionists’, May 2012, available at: http://www.ituc-csi.org/the-united-nations-protect-respect,11734.html (last visited July 2012).

8 Business and Human Rights in Conflict-Affected Regions: Challenges and Options for State Responses, UN Doc. A/HRC/17/32, 27 May 2012.

9 Editor's note: The term is used to designate a corporation's most important senior executives.

10 Editor's note: The Kiobel case (Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., US Supreme Court, No. 10-1491) was brought under the ATS by members of the Ogoni community in Nigeria against Shell. The plaintiffs alleged that Shell had aided and abetted the Nigerian military dictatorship in the 1990s in the commission of gross human rights violations, including torture, extra-judicial execution, and crimes against humanity. A decision is expected in the first half of 2013.

11 Editor's Note: The quotations are from ‘Business and Human Rights: Mapping International Standards of Responsibility and Accountability for Corporate Acts', Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, UN Doc. A/HRC/4/035, 9 February 2007, paras. 41, 44, 22 and 84, respectively.

12 Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research, ‘Top 190 projects to change the world’, April 2008.