The UN and Corporate Environmental Responsibility: Between International Regulation and Partnerships

This article analyses the successive attempts of the United Nations to ensure the responsible conduct of transnational corporations, and of business in general, with reference to the protection of the environment. The article will concentrate mainly on the UN draft Code of Conduct for Transnational Corporations, the 'partnership with business' approach of the Global Compact and the human-rights-based approach of the Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with regards to Human Rights. After considering recent developments at the UN Commission on Human Rights, the article evaluates the continued efforts, diverse strategies and multi-faceted institutional role of the UN in keeping the issue of corporate environmental responsibility on the international agenda and in trying to identify the international environmental standards directly applicable to business entities.