The Emergence of International Standards
This chapter provides a short theoretical discussion on the role of standards, as opposed to rules and principles, in the progressive development of international law. The chapter also assesses the conceptual and legal relevance of each initiative, namely: the UN draft Code of Conduct on Transnational Corporations, the UN Global Compact, the UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with regard to Human Rights, the influential UN Framework on Business and Human Rights and its Guiding Principles, the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Performance Standards of the International Finance Corporation. The chapter discusses the different conceptual approaches taken by these initiatives and assesses the extent to which current human rights-based approaches have built upon the earlier consolidation of international corporate environmental accountability standards and the extent to which they contribute to further detailing these standards.