The Role of Business in Sustainable Development and Peacebuilding: Observing Interaction Effects

The research examines the interaction effects of business-development partnerships in the Global South, arguing that the current global model often prioritizes corporate interests and high-level rhetoric over grounded social impact. Through narrative inquiry and case studies in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, and Dubai, the author illustrates how corporate operations can inadvertently fund conflict, confer legitimacy to violent actors, and facilitate the laundering of conflict minerals, despite public commitments to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The paper concludes that non-binding, self-reported frameworks like the UN Global Compact are insufficient and that binding, independently verified regulatory initiatives are necessary to ensure peace-positive business action.

• Multilateral organizations and the UN now view the private sector as an essential partner for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), leading to a convergence of discourse where firms use the SDGs to operationalize social work and improve value chains.
• There is a significant gap between corporate commitment to the SDGs and actual implementation; while 95% of Fortune 500 firms have stated commitments, only 5% of those firms have launched specific SDG projects.
• In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the operational model of firms like Heineken (via its subsidiary Bralima) can inadvertently fund armed conflict because distributors must pay tolls at rebel-controlled checkpoints to maintain market access.
• Corporate partnerships with military elites in Myanmar conferred legitimacy and economic power to violent actors, contributing to an environment where ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya could occur despite high GDP growth and foreign direct investment.
• The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and 'Business for Peace' initiatives are criticized for 'bluewashing' and relying on non-binding, self-reported data that fails to account for the negative societal impacts of corporate operations.
• Dubai serves as a primary destination for conflict gold from the DRC, where the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) certifies gold as conflict-free by arguing its role is limited to purification and that gold is sourced 'from Dubai'.
• The use of subcontractors and joint venture partners allows multinational corporations to insulate themselves from legal liability and political risk, creating a gap between their CSR rhetoric and operational reality.
• The author argues that the only effective way to ensure peace-positive business action is through binding regulatory initiatives that are independently verified, universally applied, and possess punitive capabilities.

APA

Peace Research Institute Oslo (n.d.). The Role of Business in Sustainable Development and Peacebuilding: Observing Interaction Effects. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/d5a82e41-6eb7-47ee-92d2-9bd72c0bd4c8/The role of business in sustainable development and peacebuilding Observing interaction effects.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

Peace Research Institute Oslo. The Role of Business in Sustainable Development and Peacebuilding: Observing Interaction Effects. n.d. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/d5a82e41-6eb7-47ee-92d2-9bd72c0bd4c8/The role of business in sustainable development and peacebuilding Observing interaction effects.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Peace Research Institute Oslo |title=The Role of Business in Sustainable Development and Peacebuilding: Observing Interaction Effects |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/d5a82e41-6eb7-47ee-92d2-9bd72c0bd4c8/The role of business in sustainable development and peacebuilding Observing interaction effects.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{peaceresearchinstituteoslondrole, author = {{Peace Research Institute Oslo}}, title = {{The Role of Business in Sustainable Development and Peacebuilding: Observing Interaction Effects}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/d5a82e41-6eb7-47ee-92d2-9bd72c0bd4c8/The role of business in sustainable development and peacebuilding Observing interaction effects.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }