"Negotiating a Treaty on Business and Human Rights: The Early Stages", Sep 2017

…[T]he proposal [for a binding instrument on business and human rights] also made several developed and developing states become more active in the pursuit of implementing the Guiding Principles domestically through National Action Plans, perhaps to counter the idea that binding international standards are required…

As per its mandate, the initial two sessions [of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Respect to Human Rights (OEIWG)] were set aside for discussion of the potential content, scope, nature, and form of the future international instrument, before entering the substantial negotiation stage…They have also highlighted the areas where more governmental action is needed, both individually and collectively through cooperation processes, in order to effectively regulate the impacts of corporations with transnational operations. And yet, as we move forward to the negotiation stage, it is necessary to maintain a realistic approach as to what a treaty may be able to do and how it may do it, taking into consideration the political reality and the existing legal barriers to achieving better protection of human rights. As part of this exercise, it is useful to start reflecting upon what a follow-up mechanism could look like, taking into consideration previous experiences of other human rights treaty bodies, but also the reality that a new type of actor would (at least) be the indirect subject of the obligations set forth in the potential treaty…