The OECD has published the inaugural OECD Responsible Business Outlook 2026, a global assessment of how responsible business conduct is being implemented by the 10,000 largest listed companies and promoted by the 52 governments adhering to the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct. The report finds that public commitments are now widespread, but implementation is lagging, especially in supply chains and on human rights. It also finds that governments are increasingly moving from voluntary support to mandatory due diligence-related regulation and broader integration of responsible business conduct across trade, procurement, state ownership and access-to-remedy frameworks. Among large listed companies, 69% disclose a commitment on at least one responsible business conduct issue and 36% have cross-cutting commitments, but fewer than 20% report measures to address impacts and only a minority disclose due diligence practices beyond policies and management systems. Around half report environmental or human rights criteria for supplier selection, yet fewer than 20% evaluate supplier risk against those criteria. Human rights-related implementation is particularly limited, with 8% reporting stakeholder engagement on human rights, 17% reporting a formal human rights grievance mechanism and 10% committing to provide remedy. On the public policy side, 84% of OECD member countries and 67% of countries adhering to the OECD guidelines have introduced due diligence-related regulation, including sustainability reporting, conduct requirements and product or market-based measures. Since 2020, 67 of 186 trade and investment agreements signed by adherent countries include a responsible business conduct clause, and more than USD 8 trillion of public procurement spending in 2024 was by countries where mandatory due diligence measures apply to public bodies explicitly or implicitly. The report sets out five policy considerations for the next phase. These are to ensure companies are sufficiently incentivised and enabled to carry out outcome-oriented environmental and social due diligence, provide more practical support for supply-chain due diligence, improve reporting and tracking of business practices, build stronger evidence on implementation and impact, and deepen cross-border co-operation to reduce complexity and improve policy coherence.
OECD2026-06-30
OECD publishes Responsible Business Outlook finding 69% of large listed companies have responsible business conduct commitments while due diligence implementation lags
The OECD’s first Responsible Business Outlook finds that responsible business conduct commitments are common among the world’s largest listed companies, but due diligence implementation remains weak, especially in supply chains and on human rights. It reports that 69% of large listed companies have at least one public commitment, while fewer than 20% report many core measures to identify and address impacts. Governments are increasingly mandating due diligence, with 84% of OECD member countries having introduced due diligence-related regulation.