Companies conduct business at both the national and transnational or global levels, whether through activities within their production and marketing chains or through foreign investment. Sometimes, these activities negatively impact the rights of communities and individuals, particularly by violating human rights. The United Nations has addressed this issue, publishing a series of documents such as the Ruggie Principles (United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights) and seeking the adoption of an International Convention (Legally Binding Instrument to Regulate, in International Human Rights Law, the Activities of Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises). The Human Rights & Business Working Group has also worked on this issue, focusing on due diligence. Later initiatives included the OECD (OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; Declaration on Promoting and Enabling Responsible Business Conduct in the Global Economy) and the European Union (Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence). In 2023, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights issued Resolution ACHPR/Res. 550 (LXXIV) 2023, committing to prepare a draft of a Regional African Legally Binding Instrument to Regulate the Activities of Transnational Corporations and Other Commercial Enterprises.
Many of other international initiatives, such as the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, the UN Global Compact Network (United Nations Global Compact, The Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact), the ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, the Institute for Human Rights and Business, and the Observatory of Multinationals in Latin America; CERLAC (Corporate Human Rights Benchmark Indicators); and ISO 26001:2010, Guidance on social responsibility, are linked to corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Today, the development of the digital economy has further exacerbated these issues.​​