The Responsible Contracting Project
RCP’s mission is to drive better outcomes for people and the planet through better, more Responsible Contracts.
Responsible Contracts commit both parties—buyers and suppliers—to each do their part to uphold human rights and environmental standards and work together to address problems that arise.
Core Principles of Responsible Contracting
RCP promotes contracts as a key tool for upholding human rights and environmental standards through a shared-responsibility approach—where contracts commit both buyers (e.g., brands and retailers) and suppliers (e.g., farms and factories) to fulfill their individual responsibilities and cooperate to prevent and address harms. Responsible Contracts follow four core principles, known as the “4Rs:"
1) Responsibility for human rights and the environment is shared
2) Responsible purchasing practices
3) Remediation first
4) Responsible exit as a last resort
The RCP Toolkit
The Toolkit contains practical and versatile tools that companies can use to improve the human rights and environmental performance of their contracts and, by extension, their supply chains.
News
Tools
In April 2026, RCP launched its latest tool: The Responsible Contracting in Spice Supply Chains Guidance
serves as a practical guide for spice-sector companies in aligning commercial contracts and business relationships with the UNGPs, and was developed in collaboration with the Sustainable Spice Initiative (SSI).
Events
RCP Director Sarah Dadush joined the Sourcing Journal Sustainability Summit in New York City on April 23, speaking on responsible purchasing as a sustainability strategy in the session “Contracting for Change,” alongside Karen Stauss of Transparentem and Jasmin Malik Chua of Sourcing Journal.
Photo credit: Allison Joseph/@shotsbyalliej)
Latest News
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April 27 — [Article] RCP Director Sarah Dadush and Senior Advisor John Sherman co-authored an essay for Shift's series marking the 15th anniversary of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), titled, From Social Norm to Legal Practice: Fifteen Years of Integrating the UNGPs into Business Law.
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April 9 — [Toolkit] RCP has launched its latest tool, the Responsible Contracting in Spice Supply Chains Guidance, developed in collaboration with the Sustainable Spice Initiative (SSI).
Events
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May 2026 — Check back soon for updates!
In Collaboration with
