Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
12
Global mechanisms for greening TNCs: inching
towards corporate accountability?
Jennifer Clapp
Introduction
There has been heightened concern in recent years with respect to the environmental
impact of transnational corporations (TNCs) and foreign direct investment (FDI)
(Dauvergne, 2001; Leighton et al., 2002; Gallagher and Zarsky, 2007). The past few
decades have seen the emergence of a number of international mechanisms designed to
enhance or improve the performance of TNCs with respect to the environment. Some of
these mechanisms are undertaken by individual
rms; some have been derived from
within a particular industry; some have been developed in conjunction with other actors
(state and non-state); and some are overseen by intergovernmental organizations. A key
debate has been whether mechanisms to green TNCs should be industry driven and vol-
untary, or mandatory, as part of government regulation. All of the international mecha-
nisms thus far put into place are voluntary. But many claim that such measures lack teeth,
and there have been mounting calls for a more state-based regulatory approach at the
global level to ensure corporate accountability.
This chapter provides a brief survey of the main international instruments for corpo-
rate greening that aim to improve the environmental performance of TNCs and FDI. The
chapter
fi
rst provides an outline and discussion of the various mechanisms and debates
that have arisen with respect to these instruments. It then goes on to discuss the idea of a
corporate accountability treaty, which some non-state actors have suggested as a means
by which to provide more teeth to corporate greening initiatives. I argue that although
there is at present too wide a range of existing corporate greening mechanisms - which
makes the corporate greening landscape rather convoluted and di
fi
used - there is a lack
of political support at the present time for an overarching legally binding international
treaty on corporate accountability. E
ff
orts to link and strengthen existing mechanisms to
give them more coherence and teeth may well be the best available strategy at this time at
the global level for greening TNCs and FDI.
ff
Global mechanisms for corporate greening
TNCs tend to invest in sectors that have potentially high environmental impact. They are
key players in the manufacturing sector, which includes electronics, chemicals and heavy
industry, as well as in the primary sector, which includes resource extraction - from forests
to oil to minerals. Each of these industries is seen to have potentially high environmental
impact, and recent research has documented environmental damage resulting from TNC
behavior in these sectors, especially in the developing world.
1
In the past few years, growth
in FDI has been especially strong in the primary sector (UNCTAD, 2006, p. 7), in par-
ticular in mining and oil, industries that are particularly prone to negative environmental
consequences. It has also been noted that TNCs play a signi
fi
cant role in contributing to
climate change (Morgera, 2004, p. 215).
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