Companies must dare to engage their critics

- Companies must dare to engage their critics to contribute to development, environmental protection and human rights, said the Minister of Environment and Development Erik Solheim in a panel debate organized by the OECD National Contact Point for Responsible Business on October 18, 2011. Elin Myrmel-Johansen facilitated the debate.

Minister Solheim referred to his personal experiences with conflict mediation. - Everything must be open to discussion, but this does not mean that everybody has to agree on all topics, said the Minister. The important thing is to build trust, and that can only happen through open dialogue.

Harald Norvik, Chairman of the Telenor board, made reference to Telenor’s experiences in Bangladesh. - We learned the hard way. But we took on the conflict and listened to the critics. With improved systems in place, we are better prepared.

Panel debate. All photos: Hege Røttingen/Mari Bangstad
Questions from the audience.	Norvik and Solheim.

 
Øyvind Briså Bama AS described his experiences with social dialogue in Costa Rica.

- We must bring all parties to the table as equals, also those who are excluded from decision-making processes where we are operating. Companies must understand that there is nowhere to hide from the consumer, he concluded.
Caroline Rees, director of the Governance and Accountability project at Harvard University, said that power must be devolved and confidentiality must be ensured in mediation. But the public must have access to the final outcome in order to benefit and learn from it.

Researcher Joseph Wilde represents OECD Watch, which organizes more than 80 international organizations from 45 countries, including the Norwegian ForUM. Wilde maintained that the authorities and National Contact Points internationally could do more to improve the relationship between civil society and corporations. The mediation in the Cermaq-case recently concluded by the Norwegian NCP has garnered international interest, and can serve as an inspiration to others. Wilde asserted that there must be alternatives to put an end to damages to the environment and human rights abuse when dialogue fails.

Hans Petter Graver, dean of the Faculty of Law and the chair of the Norwegian NCP, explained how the mediation was conducted between Cermaq ASA and the complainants - the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature and the Forum for Environment and Development (ForUM) on the other. – We expect companies to contribute to solving conflicts. We expect companies to answer questions appropriately and thoroughly when invited to do so in our assessment of complaints. We also expect companies to document how they follow the OECD Guidelines in their business operations.