Human Rights Anchored in Business: Practice and Challenges in the Palm Oil Sector in Malaysia
Andika AB. Wahab
The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human
Rights aims to address gaps in human rights governance by setting a standard
and corporate culture of respecting human rights. In Malaysia, despite growing
requirements for sustainable production, the palm oil sector has been
implicated in various corporate human rights violations. This article discusses
how do three public listed companies in the palm oil sector in Malaysia perform
their obligation to respect human rights? This article argues that while large
palm oil companies have shown modest progress in realizing their human rights
obligation – the lack of regulatory framework, resources, direct market
pressure and membership to sustainability standards continue to serve as critical
challenges in compensating the gaps in human rights governance.