The business and human rights(BHR) debate has so far concentrated its attention on soft law initiatives, most notably the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, resulting in rare mention of universal human rights treaties. This article reconsiders how the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) could make a unique contribution to BHR global governance. In particular it focuses on human rights challenges in global supply chains, the issue addressed by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in its General Comment No. 24. The analysis finds that the ICESCR state reporting procedure offers a relevant forum that improves state BHR measures through a pragmatic operationalization of extraterritorial obligations, while the individual communication procedure under the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR contains many obstacles to effectively deal with such matters. Ultimately, this article argues that the ICESCR could offer a vital impetus to overcome a limitation of BHR soft law instruments by obliging states to hold corporations legally accountable for their negative impacts on human rights even where enterprises do not have sufficient economic incentives to respect these rights. As such, it is essential to take the ICESCR more seriously to enhance legal responses to BHR challenges.
