The OECD Guidelines for multinational enterprises on RBC are the first international agreement asking businesses to align their green-house gas emissions with internationally agreed temperature goals. This is now a baseline expectation by more than 50 countries representing two-thirds of global trade and 80% of foreign direct investment. Concretely these governments recommend that enterprises implement transition plans that are based on science-based absolute reduction targets for both the short, medium and long-term. They also ask that enterprises undertake risk-based due diligence to seek to prevent, mitigate and address climate impacts associated with their activities.

While there are an impressive volume of standards and frameworks focused on climate mitigation action for business, the vast majority of these focus on reporting, target setting and emissions measurement.  Far fewer cover expectations regarding steering or tacking action to address climate impact, little to none consider responsibility for remediation of climate impacts.  In this respect the Guidelines can serve as an important reference point to encourage business in taking positive action towards not only measuring emissions but also preventing emissions or remediating their impact. 

Transitioning away from a carbon intensive economy and delivering net-zero commitments can generate disruptions through economic restructuring, reallocations of capital and financial flows, workforce displacement, and land-use change affecting communities, and affect the affordability and availability of goods and services.  Likewise transitioning into greener industries or technologies can also pose important risks​. For example, achieving the climate mitigation objectives of the Paris Agreement will mean quadrupling minerals supply for clean energy by 2040 . To supply these materials in sufficient volumes, sourcing from conflict-affected or high-risk areas will be important. The production of critical minerals is highly concentrated in a few countries, including areas where human rights, labour and environmental risks are prevalent. In this respect, carrying out due diligence to prevent and mitigate adverse impacts linked to the sourcing of raw materials needed in the transition will be crucial to contributing to a just transition.