2016 Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct - DAY 2

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Day 1 programme

08:00 - 09:30

 Registration

09:30 - 11:00

Room CC10

Measuring links between business performance and responsible business conduct

This session will discuss latest empirical evidence on the impact of RBC on business performance, such as improved financial returns, increased access to credit, employee retention, and the costs of implementing due diligence and other RBC actions. It will address questions of what metrics and indicators are used to measure this impact, as well as challenges and strategies related to collecting the relevant information and establishing causality. Session note

Moderator

• Catherine L. Mann, Chief Economist, OECD

Panellists

• Eva Weissman, Adjunct Associate Professor, International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
• Hetal Damani, Nordea Investment
• Nick Johnstone, Head, Structural Policy Division, OECD
• Salima Benhamou, Economist, Commissariat Général à la Stratégie et à la Prospective, Service du Premier Ministre, France
• Benjamin Cokelet, Executive Director, PODER 

11:00 - 11:30

Coffee break

11:30 - 13:00

Room CC10

Taking stock of National Contact Point activities 

National Contact Points have a mandate to promote the Guidelines and handle complaints regarding non-observance of the Guidelines in specific instances. The nature of specific instances brought to NCPs has varied over the years. This session will look back at these specific instances and discuss outcomes and follow-up measures. In addition, the session will hear from National Human Rights Institutions, some of which are beginning to receive complaints related to business activities. Session note

15 years of the National Contact Points

Moderator

• Kathryn Dovey, Manager, NCP Coordination, OECD

Panellists

• Rachel Ball, Director of Advocacy, Human Rights Law Centre
• Herman Mulder, National Contact Point, Netherlands
• Kirstine Drew, Senior Policy Advisor, Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD
• Ariel Meyerstein, Vice President, Labor Affairs, Corporate Responsibility, Corporate Governance, United States Council for International Business
• David Rutherford, Chief Commissioner, New Zealand Human Rights Commission 

11:30 - 13:00

Auditorium

Multi-stakeholder initiatives and RBC

A large number of multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) have emerged in the past two decades to help business identify and avoid adverse environmental, labour and human rights impacts in global supply chains. The session will include experts as well as participants from national and international MSIs to reflect on their experiences to date, and draw broad lessons that could help strengthen collaborative engagement on responsible business conduct in the future. This session will also explore how countries can strengthen MSIs and how MSIs can measure their effectiveness and impact.  Session note

Moderator

• Joris Oldenziel, Head of Public Affairs and Stakeholder Engagement, Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (tbc)

Panellists

• Ben Collins, Program Coordinator, Institute of Multistakeholder Integrity 
• Serena Lillywhite, Corporate Social Responsibility Development Advisor, Cooperation Committee for Cambodia
• Anne-Marie Fleury, Director of Standards and Impacts,  Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC)
• Christian Hagemann, Senior Policy Officer, Sustainability Standards, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) 
• Kristin Komives, Executive Director, ISEAL

13:00 - 14:30

CC10

Lunch break

OECD lunchtime session: Introduction to General Due Diligence Guidance 

The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises seek to shift corporate thinking about risks. For many companies, the term risk means risks to the company itself, such as financial risk, operational risk and reputational risk. The OECD Guidelines call on companies to carry out risk-based due diligence to avoid and address adverse impacts related to matters covered by the Guidelines, focusing instead on risks associated with enterprise activities and the consequences for society, for human rights, the environment and governance. This lunchtime session will introduce OECD’s new project to develop a general Guidance on Due Diligence for Responsible Business Conduct‎ relevant to all sectors of the economy. Session note

• Tyler Gillard, Manager - Sector Projects, Responsible Business Conduct Unit, OECD
• Kirstine Drew, Senior Policy Advisor, Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD
• Ariel Meyerstein, Vice President, Labor Affairs, Corporate Responsibility, Corporate Governance, United States Council for International Business
• Joseph Wilde-Ramsing, Coordinator, OECD Watch and Senior Researcher, SOMO
• Yousuf Aftab, Principal, Enodo Rights

14:30 - 16:00

Auditorium

Aligning fiduciary duty and responsible business conduct in institutional investments

Over the past decade, changes in investment practice and in public policy have created positive duties on investors to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into decision making where they are indeed financially material. Some have argued that failing to consider all long-term investment value drivers, including ESG issues, is a failure of fiduciary duty. Others, however, continue to perceive a misalignment between the expectation of institutional investors to prevent and mitigate ESG risks and the duty to generate a return on clients’ assets. This session explores how institutional investors can respond to the interests and expectations of their beneficiaries while also considering ESG issues. Session note

Moderator

• Rob Lake, Responsible Investment Consultant

Panellists

• Phyllis Borzi, Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security of the United States Department of Labor
• Emmy Labovitch, Principal Administrator, Financial Affairs Division OECD
• Stephanie Maier, Head, Responsible Investment Strategy and Research, Aviva Investors
• Heather Slavkin-Corzo, Director of Investment, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)
• Rachel Haworth, Policy Officer, ShareAction

16:00 - 16:30

Coffee Break

16:30 - 18:00

Room CC10

Pharmaceutical industry and responsible business conduct

According to WHO, three of the world’s most fatal communicable diseases - malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis - disproportionately affect the world’s poorest populations, placing a tremendous burden on the economies of developing countries. In light of the newly agreed Sustainable Development Goals, and in particular, Goal 3 to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all, this session will discuss what responsible business conduct means for pharmaceutical companies, in particular as related to their responsibility to facilitate access to medicine for vulnerable individuals. Session note

Moderator

• Damiano de Felice, Deputy Director for Strategy, Access to Medicine Foundation

Panellists

• Herman Mulder, National Contact Point, Netherlands 
• Sarbani Chakraborty, Head, Global Health Policy, Merck Serono
• Patrick Durisch, Health Programme Coordinator, Berne Declaration
• Catherine Dujardin, Public Health Expert, Belgian FPS Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation
• Helena  Viñes Fiestas, Head of Sustainability Research, Responsable de la recherche ISR/ESG, BNP Paribas Investment Partners

16:30 - 18:00

Auditorium

Accountability of Mega-Sporting Events

This session will discuss new efforts to address human right and labour issues throughout the life-cycle of sporting events. Questions such as are we at a point where stakeholders can work together on building accountability measures that relate to the events themselves; what is the role for independent oversight, peer review, NCPs, arbitration as well as stronger national legal mechanisms; how do human rights and labour mechanisms sit along-side the wider measures needed to fight corruption and restore trust in sport, will be discussed.

Sport, corruption and responsible business conduct

Moderator

• John Morrison, Executive Director, Institute for Human Rights and Business 

Panellists

• Pierre Poret, Deputy Director,Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, OECD 
• Remy Friedman, Senior Advisor, Swiss Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs
• Fani Misailidi, Head of Public Affairs, FIFA 
• Jin Sook Lee, Migration, Gender & Campaign Director, Building and Wood Worker's International

Auditorium

This closing plenary will sum up the Global Forum discussions, with a focus on key considerations for ensuring that the Guidelines continue making an impact.

Moderator

• Roel Nieuwenkamp, Chair, Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct, OECD

Panellists

• Cristina Tebar-Less, Head, Responsible Business Conduct Unit, OECD
• John Evans, General-Secretary, Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC)
• Winand Quaedvlieg, Chair, Committee on Investment and Responsible Business Conduct, Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC)
• Joseph Wilde-Ramsing, Co-ordinator, OECD Watch