Annual analysis of community and NGO-led National Contact Point complaints concluded in 2025
This year marks a dual milestone for responsible business conduct: the 50th anniversary of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct, and the 25th anniversary of the National Contact Point (NCP) grievance mechanism. To help mark this occasion, and to highlight the importance of the NCP mechanism, OECD Watch has released its annual report analysing the community and NGO-led NCP complaints that were concluded last year.
The State of Remedy 2025 draws on OECD Watch’s complaint database and direct engagement with civil society complaints, to examine complaint outcomes from 2025, key numbers for complaints, remedy highlights, and remedy outcomes. The report offers an evidence-based account of how the NCP mechanism functions in practice to provide a state-backed, non-judicial pathway for affected individuals and communities to seek remedy.
Although many complaints have contributed to remedy and changed business practices, NCP performance is not equal across member states. More progress is needed to ensure effective remedy for the victims of corporate misconduct. What needs to change first and foremost, as emphasised in our report, is the voluntary nature of responsible business conduct standards. Companies are not driven to act responsibly through voluntary standards alone – instead binding government regulation is required to achieve true justice.
This report takes stock of what has been achieved, while simultaneously looking ahead to what needs to be done next, to attain and maintain an even higher standard of responsible business conduct. With this and previous reports, OECD Watch affirms its position in promoting binding government regulation to remediate as well as mitigate harms caused by corporate misconduct.
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