ABSTRACT
Transnational corporations and other large businesses have acquired a significant amount of power since the trends of globalization started to develop. With this increase in power comes an increase in responsibility. The UN Human Rights Norms for Transnational Corporations and Other Businesses help fill a major gap in the international human rights system, which already addresses the responsibilities of governments, individuals, and armed opposition groups, but has not yet focused on one category of powerful nonstate actors, businesses. The Norms provide companies that want to be socially responsible with an easily understood and comprehensive summary of their obligations under such systems as human rights law, humanitarian law, international labor law, environmental law, consumer law, and anticorruption law. Accordingly, the Norms help to establish a level playing field for competition. Further, the Norms can strengthen the will of governments to insist that businesses avoid human rights abuses. Implementation remains a key issue in the future development of these standards.
