Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2020

ISSN

0020-7810

Publisher

American Bar Association

Language

en-US

Abstract

This article proceeds as follows. First, it will define well-being and discuss the ways in which a range of human rights must be protected to promote well-being. Next, it will explain the ways businesses can impact well-being, for good or for ill. This will be followed by a discussion on the relevant legal and policy frameworks in France that regulate information relevant to the social and environmental impacts of business, including the Duty of Vigilance Law and the National Action Plan of France for Implementing the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Using examples of leading French multinational corporations in the food, pharmaceuticals, energy, and information sectors, this article then examines the rankings of Danone, Sanofi, and Total on human rights performance relevant to the OECD Framework for Measuring Well-Being. In particular, it will map how the “current well-being” criteria of “health status,” “environmental quality,” “personal security,” and “future well-being” are counted in the human rights rankings that have been used to assess French corporations to date. Finally, this article will analyze corporations’ responses to rankings to show how ranking business impacts on human rights as relevant to wellbeing operates to influence constituencies of interest to corporations including investors and consumers.

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