Lessons from the ANZ-Phnom Penh Sugar Case for the OECD National Contact Point System of Corporate Accountability

Abstract

In February 2020, following a decade-long struggle for justice, a determined group of displaced Cambodian farmers and two advocacy organizations (Inclusive Development International and Equitable Cambodia) reached a landmark agreement with the Australia New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) to provide a financial pay-out to the farmers for their suffering. The agreement set an important human rights precedent for the global banking industry. It was the first time known that a commercial bank made a financial contribution to remediate harms caused by one of its corporate customers, after acknowledging that its human rights due diligence had been inadequate.1 The case was also a rare example of a community receiving financial compensation through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s voluntary system of corporate accountability (the OECD’s National Contact Points or NCPs). While the final outcome was positive, its singularity and the immense effort, tenacity and resources required in obtaining it, demonstrate both what is wrong with this corporate accountability system and what reforms are needed to reach its potential to advance greater business respect for human rights.