ICAR is pleased to share our assessment of the 2024 United States National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct.

In March 2024, the government of the United States launched the second iteration of its National Action Plan (NAP) on Responsible Business Conduct. As we have done with many other NAPs, in response, ICAR has produced a structured assessment of the 2024 NAP using the NAPs Checklist developed and published by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) as part of the ICAR-DIHR NAPs Toolkit. The NAPs Checklist lays out a set of twenty-five criteria that address both the content of NAPs and the process for developing them.

Our assessment finds that while the 2016 NAP was largely focused on reciting past actions, the 2024 NAP is much more focused on laying out forward-looking commitments. This is a welcomed change. These commitments are relatively specific, measurable, achievable, and relevant. There are some commitments, however, that are vague or worded in a way that makes it difficult to discern the concrete steps the government agency is committing to take. Further, there are several commitments that are focused on continued exploration or consideration of taking an action, rather than a commitment to take that action, and all the action points could have and should have been strengthened by including a timeline for implementation.

Overall, the 2024 NAP is a strong step forward from the 2016 version, with clear commitments from a variety of government agencies, although it suffers from a lack of embedded timelines and some key missed opportunities in substantive areas. While ICAR would have liked to see a stronger and more ambitious NAP, there are elements of this NAP that are well done and worth noting.

To read our full assessment of the 2024 U.S. NAP on Responsible Business Conduct, download the report here.