Dr. Owens Wiwa stated that corporations should have clear benchmarks to indicate whether they are violating human rights or environmental protection. Benchmarks ensure that corporate accountability will continue although a corporation might move its base of operations to a developing country. Benchmarks should encompass both human rights and environmental protection and should be clear and measurable. If corporations adopt benchmarks and follow them, governments will be pressured to also comply. That is a clear benchmark.
Benchmarks are similar to the idea of a corporate code of conduct.
Activists agree that both of these tools usually arise as a response to pressure from organized movements, communities, NGOs and others concerned about human rights and environmental protection. Simply looking at international treaties and conventions on corporate accountability does not solve the problem because, as an activist stated, corporate interests are often supporting trade associations. It was suggested that the activist community must evaluate codes of conduct as well as pressure corporations to adopt them. In talking about measuring corporate accountability, there was consensus that local people on-site in the country are the best suited for gathering information about a corporation's practices in that country. Dr. Owens Wiwa pointed out that activists and environmentalists in the communities need to be trained so that organizations can get the information they need to play the role of watchdog of corporations.