Participating in external initiatives

We respect human rights in our operations, not just because doing so fosters a stable business environment, but more importantly, because it is the right and responsible thing to do.

We continue to participate in the consultation process outlined by John Ruggie, the United Nations Special Representative on Business and Human Rights. Professor Ruggie’s 2008 report set forth a widely accepted policy framework for managing business and human rights challenges based on distinct yet complementary responsibilities for governments and corporations as well as effective remedies in cases of abuse.

The “protect, respect, remedy” framework outlines the duty of governments to protect against human rights abuses by third parties, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights, and the need for improved access to effective remedy mechanisms. Under this framework, the corporate responsibility to respect human rights involves due diligence, having policies in place, conducting impact assessments, and establishing mechanisms to track performance. As discussed in this section, ExxonMobil’s approach is consistent with the basic components of this framework. We look forward to reviewing Professor Ruggie’s final recommendations in 2011 that offer further guidance on how corporations can put the framework into practice.