50 years of the OECD Guidelines: Contributions, limitations, and what is needed next
Recommendations for the OECD and member governments on the future implementation of the Guidelines
Our work on meaningful stakeholder engagement
OECD Watch advocates for meaningful stakeholder engagement as a core expectation for businesses and governments too, when they develop business policy affecting people’s rights and environments. Meaningful engagement is central to many areas of OECD Watch’s work, including due diligence, human rights, Indigenous Peoples’ rights, land rights, workers’ rights, policy coherence and just transition.
Many business harms arise because of failure to meaningfully engage the people impacted. We help complainants highlight gaps in rightsholder engagement to demand better practice moving forward.
We challenge processes that exclude, silence or disadvantage affected people. Building on stronger engagement standards we won in the latest revision of the Guidelines, we’re now calling on the OECD to clarify expectations for companies to respect participation, consultation and consent rights, particularly for Indigenous Peoples, workers and communities facing heightened risks.
We focus on stakeholder engagement when calling for stronger national and regional law and policy on corporate conduct. We’re also demanding that the OECD and governments lead by example by themselves engaging civil society and rightsholders meaningfully when developing RBC policy. We highlight where companies and governments miss the mark.
What the OECD Guidelines say
The OECD Guidelines expect companies to meaningfully engage with stakeholders and their legitimate representatives where their activities may significantly impact them. Companies should:
- Engage with people, groups and their legitimate representatives whose rights or interests are or may be affected by the company’s operations, products or services.
- Make engagement ongoing, two-way and responsive, with both sides participating in good faith.
- Ensure engagement is timely, accessible, appropriate and safe, including by identifying and removing barriers faced by people in vulnerable or marginalised situations.
- Recognise that, in some circumstances, stakeholder engagement is a right in itself, and respect applicable rights to participation, consultation or consent.
- Engage early, including during the planning and decision-making stages of projects that may significantly affect people or communities, such as projects involving intensive use of land or water.
- Prioritise engagement with stakeholders who are most severely affected or potentially affected, rather than focusing only on those who are easiest to reach or most supportive of the company.
Meaningful engagement should inform companies’ decisions and due diligence. It is more than providing information or asking for feedback after key decisions have already been made.
Get involved
Want to learn more about OECD Watch’s work on this issue? Get in touch with us to find out more about our advocacy and resources, or to discuss how the OECD Guidelines can support your work. Reach out directly.
Related resources
Stakeholder engagement factsheet
Get a practical overview of what the OECD Guidelines say about stakeholder engagement. Available in:
English
Arabic
French
Spanish
Portuguese
Related NCP complaints
Explore complaints where meaningful stakeholder engagement was raised as an issue in civil society-led complaints.
Review related complaints
How to use the Guidelines
The OECD Guidelines provide civil society with a framework for engaging companies, governments and other decision-makers on responsible business conduct. You can use the Guidelines to:
Help communities and other affected people understand the standards companies are expected to meet and the rights and protections they can demand.
Use the Guidelines to talk to companies about their impacts and demand that they prevent, address and remedy harm.
Use the Guidelines to advocate for strong laws, policies and corporate practices that protect people and the planet and hold companies accountable.
When a company falls below the standards in the Guidelines, you can bring a complaint to an NCP and seek accountability and remedy.
Connected issues
Gender
How companies should use a gender lens to identify and address the distinct impacts of their activities on women and LGBTQI+ people.
Human rights
How companies can respect human rights, prevent harm and provide or contribute to remedy when harms occur.
Human rights defenders
How companies should respect human rights defenders and prevent and remedy reprisals against those who speak out.
Indigenous Peoples’ rights
How companies should respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including collective rights to culture, self-determination, and free, prior and informed consent.
Land rights
How companies should prevent harm to people’s land, housing and tenure rights and respect legitimate land rights.
Workers’ rights
How companies should respect workers’ rights across their operations and value chains, including freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Related news and publications
Short guide to the Guidelines for civil society
Understanding and using the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct
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Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement 2.0.?: Tracing Developments in the Revised 2023 OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
By Caroline Omari Lichuma Blog symposium co-organised by OECD Watch and NOVA School of Law 12 years since the entry into force of the 2011 OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, (the 2011 Guidelines), a much-anticipated…