Clear expectations

The Dutch government should be clear about what it expects from companies when it comes to corporate social responsibility. Within many companies, the international guidelines for Corporate Accountability are neither well known or understood.

The Dutch government should focus more efforts on translating guidelines on Corporate Accountability into practice. This means clarifying what is expected as a minimum standard, and explaining how companies can raise their ambitions. Expectations should be set out in the form of a tool or implementation guidelines, which should also be made available to the general public. These guidelines should form the heart of all government policy related to business.

Extra attention should be paid to the need for ‘due diligence’, which has been part of the OECD Guidelines since 2011. Due diligence means that companies must actively seek out any corporate abuses or risks of abuse in their own operations and in their supply chain. If they identify any such risks, they must act to prevent abuses from taking place. Any wrongdoing identified must be mitigated or resolved.