La pertinence de l’instrument juridiquement contraignant des Nations Unies pour réglementer les activités des sociétés transnationales et autres entreprises comme levier structurel de la justice environnementale

This briefing paper argues for the necessity of a legally binding United Nations instrument to regulate transnational corporations and other businesses as a structural lever for environmental justice. It contends that current voluntary frameworks are insufficient to ensure corporate accountability for ecological destruction and human rights violations, particularly in the Global South.

• Existing international frameworks for corporate accountability, such as the UN Global Compact and the 2011 UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, are deemed insufficient because they are non-binding and lack enforcement mechanisms, sanctions, and effective remedies.
• The Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group (OEIGWG) is the only UN human rights body specifically mandated to create a global binding regulatory framework for corporate responsibility. The process has faced opposition from some industrialized nations and economic interests seeking to weaken the text, particularly regarding legal liability and extraterritoriality.
• The proposed binding instrument aims to transform the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment into enforceable obligations. This includes strengthening prevention through mandatory human rights due diligence, free, prior and informed consent, and the ability for communities to exercise a "right to say no."
• The instrument seeks to address structural power imbalances by introducing procedural guarantees such as the dynamic allocation or reversal of the burden of proof and ensuring access to information for affected communities.
• The framework proposes strict and joint civil, administrative, and criminal liability for parent companies, controlling entities, and "lead firms" within corporate groups and value chains, including the application of the polluter-pays principle.
• Recent advisory opinions from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) reinforce the need for states to regulate private actors, requiring a "strict" level of due diligence to prevent climate change and environmental degradation.
• The document highlights that corporate-led "green grabbing"—market-based climate mitigation programs like carbon offsets—often results in the dispossession of communities and undermines effective local ecosystem management.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2026). La pertinence de l’instrument juridiquement contraignant des Nations Unies pour réglementer les activités des sociétés transnationales et autres entreprises comme levier structurel de la justice environnementale. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FR_FES_FIAN-Briefing-Paper_March-2026_FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. La pertinence de l’instrument juridiquement contraignant des Nations Unies pour réglementer les activités des sociétés transnationales et autres entreprises comme levier structurel de la justice environnementale. 2026. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FR_FES_FIAN-Briefing-Paper_March-2026_FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=La pertinence de l’instrument juridiquement contraignant des Nations Unies pour réglementer les activités des sociétés transnationales et autres entreprises comme levier structurel de la justice environnementale |date=March 2026 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FR_FES_FIAN-Briefing-Paper_March-2026_FINAL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2026pertinence, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{La pertinence de l’instrument juridiquement contraignant des Nations Unies pour réglementer les activités des sociétés transnationales et autres entreprises comme levier structurel de la justice environnementale}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2026}, month = mar, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/FR_FES_FIAN-Briefing-Paper_March-2026_FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }