Comment by Shell International on the article by Corporate Europe Observatory: "Shell Leads International Business Campaign Against UN Human Rights Norms"

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to comment on the Corporate Europe Observatory article. It is true that a broad swathe of business represented by organisations like ICC and IOE have expressed concerns about the draft norms - and have done so consistently over the several years they have been under development. Shell shares the concerns expressed by ICC, IOE and others. Equally true, is that there are those, notably in the human rights community which support them. Now that the UN Commission on Human Rights will be considering the draft norms in the next few weeks it is helpful, in our view, that the various pros and cons about the norms have been set out. The governments which are members of the UN Commission will, quite appropriately, decide what happens next and at that stage, all of us with an interest in business and human rights, will need to take stock. 

That said, the article is wrong, in our view, to imply that because we express our concerns about the draft norms that in some way undermines or puts into question our commitment to support human rights. We have been working hard over several years, within the company and with others, to ensure human rights issues are taken properly into account in carrying out our day-to-day business operations and have been progressively building these considerations into our processes and management systems for what we call social performance i.e. all the ways in which we impact on or contribute to the communities that surround our operations and the societies in which we work. We report our progress in the Shell Report. We also continue to support and work actively with others in initiatives such as the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, the Global Compact which, unlike the draft norms, has the support of a wide range of companies as well as governments, NGOs, unions and UN agencies and with the Danish Centre for Human Rights on a human rights compliance tool for companies.  

Shell International

17 March 2004