| Based on the continuous increase of both the international influence of transnational corporations and the disputes related to them in recent years,the defects of the existing regulation mode have been ascertained.The international society has therefore been looking for better ways to regulate the behaviours of transnational corporations.This paper aims to propose effective international regulation strategies from the perspective of the participation and function of inter-governmental international organizations.Chapter 1 introduces the background and core concepts of the article and incorporates the theory of social responsibility into the discussion framework.Chapter 2 reviews the process of the consensus formation of the necessity of transnational corporations’ environmental obligation regulation.Normative analysis and case study are used in this chapter to review the flaws of the existing regulations,including the insufficiency of the traditional State-Centric regulation,the fragmentation of international law and the lack of legally binding international documents.By clarifying the relationship between international organizations,States and transnational corporations,it moves on to illustrate the rationale of the need of IO participation in transnational corporations’ environmental obligation regulation.TNCs take advantage of their capital strength and complex structure together with the weak governance of developing countries to evade legal accountability where national regulation lacks vitality.International organizations can use global influence and derived status of international law subjects to innovate the way international norms are formed,and continuously promote the application of international soft law documents to transnational corporations and the formation of relevant national practices.Chapter 3 divides the participation of IOs into two types: direct participation and indirect participation.Taking international financial institutions,international judicial institutions and some specialized institutions as examples,it illustrates the direct regulation role that IOs can play as the funder,the dispute solver and the custodian of common heritage of mankind.As the international norm-makers and supervisors,IOs indirectly participate in the international regulation for transnational corporations’ environmental obligation.At the same time,by promoting the wide recognition of transnational corporations’ subject status under international customary law and the treatification of related rules in general international law,IOs can gradually realize the process of transformation of indirect regulation to direct regulation.Chapter 4 discusses the concerns arising from IO participation and corresponding suggestions,including the conflict between IOs’ main functions and its regulation function in the realm of transnational corporations’ environmental obligation,the neglect of TNCs initiative and the vulnerability of IO power to the informal governance of super powers.The final Chapter presents the summary of the article and future directions worth continued research on this topic. |
