For more than a year, Amnesty International USA, through its Human Rights and the Environment Program, has been working with a broad coalition of human, environmental and labor rights groups to develop and promote International Right to Know principles in the United States. The goal is to push these principles as a legislative action in the US Congress. Globalization is perhaps the most defining feature of our time. One of the unique characteristics of globalization is the manner in which it has swiftly elevated multinational corporations as important non-state actors in contemporary world affairs. The global trend towards economic deregulation and privatization of functions traditionally performed by states has increased the power of corporations relative to the state.
Many corporations generate revenues in excess of the gross domestic products of many countries.
In some cases, multinational corporations are in stronger negotiating positions than their host countries. Many countries in the global South write laws and trade agreements designed to attract foreign investments at the expense of human rights and the environment. The notion of a Right to Know arose from our firm conviction that globalization should not undermine international human rights, labor and environmental protection standards. The international right to know principles build on existing domestic right to know laws and will require US-based multinational corporations to disclose information on the human rights, labor and environmental consequences of their business operations abroad to affected local communities and the US government. This information will also benefit governments and corporations by helping them understand the risks involved when corporations set up business operations abroad.