Past Reports
07/22/24
Assessment of the 2024 U.S. National Action Plan (NAP) on Responsible Business Conduct
ICAR is pleased to share our assessment of the 2024 U.S. National Action Plan (NAP) 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. In response, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) conducted a structured assessment of the U.S. NAP, using the NAPs Checklist developed and published by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR).
12/01/23
Building a Rights-Based Economy: A Corporate Accountability Agenda
This living Agenda is a document that organizes the varied lines of work across the business and human rights community into a theory of corporate accountability that not only addresses corporate misconduct, but systems of corporate power. We believe every progressive issue, is in part, a corporate accountability issue.
03/22/23
Supplying SLAPPs: Corporate Accountability for Retaliatory Lawsuits in Thailand’s Poultry Supply Chain
The report, by GLJ-ILRF and ICAR, highlights the continued use of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP suits) by a Thai owned poultry company to harass migrant workers, lawyers, journalists, and other human rights defenders speaking out against labor rights abuses in Thai poultry farms.
02/15/22
Reeling in Abuse: How Conservation Tools Can Help Combat Forced Labor Imports in the Seafood Industry
The report, by ICAR and CSIS, calls on the government to leverage existing conservation tools to fight illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and forced labor.
12/18/19
Fashion's Next Trend: Accelerating Supply Chain Transparency in the Apparel and Footwear Industry
Fashion's Next Trend is the latest report produced by the Transparency Pledge coalition, a group of nine human rights and labor rights organizations (including ICAR) that formed in 2016 to improve transparency in garment and footwear supply chains. The report takes stock of supply chain transparency as of late 2019, updates information from the coalition's 2017 report Follow the Thread, provides an overview of positive new developments in the industry, and makes additional recommendations aimed at improving apparel companies’ due diligence practices on human rights.
12/18/19
Fashion's Next Trend: Annex III
Annex III of Fashion's Next Trend provides responses from all responsible business initiatives to the Transparency Pledge coalition's communications.
12/20/18
Good Business: The Economic Case for Protecting Human Rights
While there is ample evidence on the costs of corporate-related human rights abuse borne by society - whether in terms of 1,134 lives lost in Rana Plaza accident, 20.9 million people estimated by ILO to be victims of forced labour, or $1bn needed to restore the environment damaged by oil extraction in Niger Delta - the financial implications for companies, however, are still poorly understood.
Getting more clarity on the costs and risks to companies that result from adverse human rights impacts might help to break the impasse in the implementation of human rights due diligence in companies’ practice as well as in law.
05/14/19
The Business Case for Supply Chain Transparency
The Benefits of Transparency: A Business Case for the Apparel and Footwear Supply Chain Transparency Pledge, makes the business case for companies to adopt greater supply chain transparency measures, showing that when they do, businesses enjoy better reputations, greater operational efficiency, improved legal compliance, and increased access to capital.
03/26/20
Full Disclosure: Towards Better Modern Slavery Reporting
This report by ICAR and Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) takes stock of progress made under current modern slavery reporting requirements and issues recommendations to improve these laws and corporate reporting practices under them.
09/20/20
Who Made Our Uniforms?
A report published by CORE and ICAR reveals that that a third of companies that have supplied uniforms for UK public sector workers, including the armed forces and prison officers, have not reported on what they are doing to tackle slavery in their supply chains.
01/31/20
Tools of the Trade: The Use of U.S. Generalized System of Preferences to Promote Labor Rights for All
This report examines the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), which is a trade program that conditionally provides duty-free access for more than 3,500 goods from its 120 beneficiary countries to the United States.
12/21/20
Extractives and NAPs on BHR
Despite the widely recognized ill-effects of extractive operations on the communities in which they operate, States, development banks, and extractive companies continue to support these projects without due consideration of their potential human rights impacts.
04/20/20
Follow the Thread
ICAR is pleased to announce the publication of "Follow the Thread: The Need for Supply Chain Transparency in the Garment and Footwear Industry," which was developed by a coalition of 9 organizations, including ICAR.
01/04/20
Knowing & Showing
The Report, edited, reviewed and endorsed by Professor Cynthia A. Williams, argues that human rights are materially relevant to corporate securities reporting and encourages the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to guide businesses in reporting material human rights information in their periodic and proxy disclosure reports.
11/16/20
Tainted Lands: Corruption in Large-Scale Land Deals
Tainted Lands takes the most comprehensive look to date at how corruption is fuelling the global land grabbing crisis, which has seen millions of people displaced from their homes and farmland.
The report calls on companies and governments to ensure that land deals are transparent, are corruption-free, and protect the rights of local communities.
10/06/20
The Corporate Crimes Principles
The Corporate Crimes Principles were developed by a group of eminent legal experts, with the support of ICAR and Amnesty International, to encourage State actors to combat corporate crimes more effectively. They were developed following extensive global consultations with investigators, prosecutors, lawyers and civil society actors. The Principles provide practical guidance on issues such as: case selection, evidence collection, identifying tools, resources and strategies for effectively pursuing such cases, cross-border collaboration, and victims’ access to justice and witness protection. View Website: Commercecrimehumanrights.org
12/01/20
Human Rights Due Diligence: The Role of States
In conjunction with the United Nations Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) along with the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) and the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) launched the report below by International Experts on Business and Human Rights, entitled “Human Rights Due Diligence: the Role of States.”
03/14/19
The Benefits of Transparency: A Business Case for the Apparel and Footwear Supply Chain Transparency Pledge
ICAR's report makes the business case for companies to adopt greater supply chain transparency measures, showing that when they do, businesses enjoy better reputations, greater operational efficiency, improved legal compliance, and increased access to capital.
The report calls on companies to adopt the Apparel and Footwear Supply Chain Transparency Pledge, which requires businesses to publish and regularly update public, searchable information about the factories in their supply chains, including factories’ names, addresses, product category, parent companies, and number of workers.
04/08/19
Written Congressional Testimony: “The Application of Environmental, Social, and Governance Principles in Investing and the Role of Asset Managers, Proxy Advisors, and Other Intermediaries”
ICAR Director of Advocacy and Campaigns, Jana Morgan, submitted written testimony to the Congressional record for the April 2, 2019 Banking Committee hearing entitled “The Application of Environmental, Social, and Governance Principles in Investing and the Role of Asset Managers, Proxy Advisors, and Other Intermediaries.”
04/01/19
Setting the Record Straight: Common Myths about Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Reporting
Over the past few decades, investors have become increasingly concerned not only with the short term profits of their investments, but also the long-term viability of the public companies in which they invest. As a result, investor calls for corporate disclosures of a company’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies, practices, and impacts as a means to assess the long-term health, profitability, and viability of companies have also increased. In response, public companies have begun voluntarily disclosing ESG information, and U.S. allies and peer countries have begun to, or have already enacted, mandatory reporting on ESG issues. The United States’ lack of action puts the country at risk of falling behind the global curve in mandating the disclosure of ESG issues important to investor assessment of long-term profitability. Common misconceptions about ESG reporting must be addressed in order to push forth meaningful reporting requirements that respond to investor needs.
04/01/19
Why Enhanced Securities Disclosures Matter for Long-Termism
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting provides critical information to investors that helps to guide their investment decisions, and as such is critical for the long-term health and well-being of a public company. These disclosures are essential for companies that want to be seen as good corporate citizens. When a company is transparent around these important issues it often receives a reputational boost and greater access to capital. The Securities and Exchange Commission should initiate a rulemaking to ensure that ESG disclosures are comprehensive, consistent, and comparable.
03/27/19
Full Disclosure: Toward Better Modern Slavery Reporting
A new report, Full Disclosure: Toward Better Modern Slavery Reporting, by ICAR and Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX) takes stock of progress made under current modern slavery reporting requirements and issues recommendations to improve these laws and corporate reporting practices under them.
12/20/18
Good Business: The Economic Case for Protecting Human Rights
ICAR, Frank Bold, and the Business and Human Rights Young Researchers Summit are pleased to announce the publication of a new report that explores evidence based economic arguments for companies to promote human rights.
09/28/18
Who Made our Uniforms? U.K. Public Sector Apparel Procurement: Ensuring Transparency and Respect for Human Rights
A new report published by CORE and ICAR reveals that that a third of companies that have supplied uniforms for UK public sector workers, including the armed forces and prison officers, have not reported on what they are doing to tackle slavery in their supply chains.
06/07/18
Tools of Trade: U.S. Sanctions Regimes and Human Rights Accountability Strategies
In this paper, “Tools of Trade: U.S. Sanctions Regimes and Human Rights Accountability Strategies,” the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable and Enough Project lay out the essential elements of how sanctions programs are created, implemented, and enforced. Specifically, the paper details of the legal authorities underlying sanctions, the agencies involved, and the approaches to implementation that have proved most effective.
01/31/18
Tools of Trade: The Use of U.S. Generalized System of Preferences to Promote Labor Rights for All
This paper provides an overview of the GSP program and a related regional trade preference program for sub-Saharan African countries, identifies gaps in implementation, and proposes recommendations for Congress and the administration to enhance the legal structure and enforcement of the GSP with a view to improving human rights, including labor rights, globally.
12/21/17
Extractives and National Action Plans (NAPs) on Business and Human Rights.
This report provides guidance on how human rights issues related to the extractive sector can be addressed in NAPs on business and human rights, as well as other similar policies. It is intended for use by both States with large amounts of oil, gas, mineral, and other natural resource wealth and extraction (host States) and States where multinational extractive companies are domiciled or registered (home States).
National Action Plans (NAPs) Toolkit: 2017 Edition
In November 2017, ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) published an update to their seminal 2014 NAPs Toolkit. The National Action Plans (NAPs) Toolkit: 2017 Edition.
11/28/17
Advancing and Strengthening the OECD National Contact Point Peer Review Process – Interim Findings and Recommendations
The document outlines the preliminary results of our research and is intended to inform discussions on the topic at the 2017 United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights. These interim findings and recommendations are based on a desk review, as well as nineteen interviews with NCPs (both those under review and those that have acted as reviewers), the OECD secretariat, and stakeholders who participated in the Belgian, Danish, Italian, and Swiss NCP peer reviews.
08/31/17
Apparel Data Directory
The directory shows which organizations are generating, or will be generating, public information related to labor rights in the apparel industry. The impetus behind the directory came from a meeting that ICAR and C&A Foundation jointly hosted in October 2016, which was attended by data generating, gathering, and policy advocacy organizations. During this meeting, participants agreed that having a map of available data on labor rights in the apparel industry would help to facilitate collaboration, identify gaps in available information, and ensure that the data being produced is useful for policy advocacy organizations.
08/23/17
Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) on Business and Human Rights (August 2017)
The International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR), the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ), and the Center for the Study of Law, Justice, and Society (Dejusticia) are pleased to release an updated report on Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) on Business and Human Rights (August 2017).
06/27/17
Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC
On June 27, 2017, ICAR, along with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) filed an amici curiae brief in support of the petitioners in Jesner v. Arab Bank, PLC, which is scheduled to be heard at the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) on October 11 of this year. The case will determine whether the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) can provide an avenue to deliver justice to victims of corporate harms. The ATS permits non-Americans to sue for international human rights abuses.
06/13/17
Investment-related Dispute Settlement: Towards Comprehensive Accountability and Inclusive Access to Remedy
This document is intended to provide an overview of the ISDS system; present leading critiques on the negative impacts of ISDS in undermining State sovereignty and the State duty to protect human rights; and highlight current State practice in disengaging with the ISDS system, revising bilateral trade agreements, and revising the ISDS system.
04/26/17
Public Procurement and Human Rights: A Survey of Twenty Jurisdictions
The first major study of public procurement and human rights – the inaugural report of the Learning Lab on Public Procurement and Human Rights – includes:
- An overview of key standards, issues, and policy or practitioner initiatives concerning the interface between public procurement and human rights
- Key findings from a 20-jurisdiction survey of law, policy, and practice on public procurement and human rights conducted in collaboration with local partners
- Recommendations on measures needed to bring public procurement into alignment with human rights and sustainable development.
04/20/17
Follow the Thread: The Need for Supply Chain Transparency in the Garment and Footwear Industry
ICAR is pleased to announce the publication of "Follow the Thread: The Need for Supply Chain Transparency in the Garment and Footwear Industry," which was developed by a coalition of 9 organizations, including ICAR.
03/01/17
ICAR Assessment of US National Action Plan (NAP) on Responsible Business Conduct
ICAR is pleased to share our assessment of the U.S. National Action Plan (NAP) on Responsible Business Conduct.
In December 2016, the United States government launched its first NAP on Responsible Business Conduct. In response, ICAR has conducted a structured assessment of the U.S. 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.
03/01/17
Background Paper: Advancing the Business and Human Rights Agenda through the G7/G20
On February 20, 2017, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the German Institute for Human Rights (DIMR) hosted an expert workshop on Advancing the Business and Human Rights Agenda through the G20 and G7. In preparation for this meeting, ICAR and DIMR produced a background document on the structure and functioning of the G20, its engagement groups, and key German priorities and dates for the 2017 G20 presidency.
01/04/17
Human Rights Due Diligence: the Role of States
The Report seeks to establish the extent to which the legal systems of States already make use of due diligence to ensure that businesses respect established standards and to describe for policymakers a range of regulatory options they might use to take the next steps in ensuring businesses respect human rights.
01/04/17
Knowing and Showing: Using U.S. Securities Laws to Compel Human Rights Disclosure
The Report, edited, reviewed and endorsed by Professor Cynthia A. Williams, argues that human rights are materially relevant to corporate securities reporting and encourages the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to guide businesses in reporting material human rights information in their periodic and proxy disclosure reports.
01/04/17
National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights: A Toolkit for the Development, Implementation, and Review of State Commitments to Business and Human Rights Frameworks
The International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) proudly announce the launch of National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights: A Toolkit for the Development, Implementation, and Review of State Commitments to Business and Human Rights Frameworks.
01/04/17
Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPS) on Business and Human Rights
The International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) have conducted structured assessments of current National Action Plans (NAPs) on business and human rights. To date, only four countries - the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Finland - have released NAPs on business and human rights. At the same time, a number of other governments have begun the process of developing such NAPs or have publicly announced an intention to do so. As such, it is essential that the four existing NAPs be closely analyzed in terms of their content and processes in order to assess best practice and to suggest areas for improvement going forward.
12/01/13
The Third Pillar: Access to Judicial Remedies for Human Rights Violations by Transnational Business
09/01/16
Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) - Coloumbia
In December 2015, the Colombian government launched a National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights. In response, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the Center for the Study of Law, Justice, and Society (Dejusticia) conducted a structured assessment of the Colombian NAP, using the NAPs Checklist developed and published by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). The NAPs Checklist lays out a set of twenty-five criteria that address both the content of NAPs and the process for developing them.
11/01/14
Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) - Denmark
In March 2014, the Danish government launched a National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights. In response, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) conducted a structured assessment of the Danish NAP, using the NAPs Checklist developed and published by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). The NAPs Checklist lays out a set of twenty-five criteria that address both the content of NAPs and the process for developing them.
11/01/14
Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) - Finland
In September 2014, the Finnish government launched a National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights. In response, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) conducted a structured assessment of the Finnish NAP, using the NAPs Checklist developed and published by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). The NAPs Checklist lays out a set of twenty-five criteria that address both the content of NAPs and the process for developing them.
08/01/17
Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) - Italy
In December 2016, the Italian government launched a National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights. In response, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) conducted a structured assessment of the Italian NAP, using the NAPs Checklist developed and published by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). The NAPs Checklist lays out a set of twenty-five criteria that address both the content of NAPs and the process for developing them.
11/01/15
Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) - Lithuania
In February 2015, the Lithuanian government launched a National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights. In response, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) conducted a structured assessment of the Lithuanian NAP, using the NAPs Checklist developed and published by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). The NAPs Checklist lays out a set of twenty-five criteria that address both the content of NAPs and the process for developing them.
11/01/14
Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) - The Netherlands
In December 2013, the Dutch government launched a National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights. In response, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) conducted a structured assessment of the Dutch NAP, using the NAPs Checklist developed and published by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). The NAPs Checklist lays out a set of twenty-five criteria that address both the content of NAPs and the process for developing them.
08/01/17
Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) - Norway
In October 2015, the Norwegian government launched a National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights. In response, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) conducted a structured assessment of the Norwegian NAP, using the NAPs Checklist developed and published by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). The NAPs Checklist lays out a set of twenty-five criteria that address both the content of NAPs and the process for developing them.
08/01/17
Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) - Switzerland
In December 2016, the Swiss government launched a National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights. In response, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) conducted a structured assessment of the Swiss NAP, using the NAPs Checklist developed and published by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). The NAPs Checklist lays out a set of twenty-five criteria that address both the content of NAPs and the process for developing them.
11/01/15
Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) - Sweden
In August 2015, the Swedish government launched a National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights. In response, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) conducted a structured assessment of the Swedish NAP, using the NAPs Checklist developed and published by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). The NAPs Checklist lays out a set of twenty-five criteria that address both the content of NAPs and the process for developing them.
11/01/14
Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) - United Kingdom (2013)
In September 2013, the government of the United Kingdom launched a National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights. In response, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) conducted a structured assessment of the U.K. NAP, using the NAPs Checklist developed and published by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). The NAPs Checklist lays out a set of twenty-five criteria that address both the content of NAPs and the process for developing them.
08/01/17
Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) - United Kingdom (2016)
In May 2016, the government of the United Kingdom launched the second iteration of its National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights. In response, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ) conducted a structured assessment of the U.K. NAP, using the NAPs Checklist developed and published by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). The NAPs Checklist lays out a set of twenty-five criteria that address both the content of NAPs and the process for developing them.
02/01/17
Assessments of Existing National Action Plans (NAPs) - United States
In December 2016, the United States government launched its first National Action Plan (NAP) on responsible business conduct. In response, the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) conducted a structured assessment of the U.S. NAP, using the NAPs Checklist developed and published by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). The NAPs Checklist lays out a set of twenty-five criteria that address both the content of NAPs and the process for developing them.
04/16/15