Mishcon de Reya clients, The Lifescape Project and the Partnership for Policy Integrity, have succeeded in obtaining a procedural review of the UK National Contact Point's (NCP) handling of their complaint against energy company Drax under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct. In a report published on 4 March 2026, the Procedural Review Committee found multiple serious breaches of the NCP's own procedures and recommended that the complaint be remitted to the NCP for fresh reconsideration.
The Complaint
The complaint, made by The Lifescape Project, The Partnership for Policy Integrity, and other NGOs on 21 October 2021, concerns allegations that Drax made misleading public statements about the environmental and climate impacts of its biomass energy (i.e. burning wood pellets for electricity).
The NCP did not issue its Final Statement with respect to the complaint until 17 May 2024, following which the complainants requested a procedural review on 3 June 2024. Accordingly, over four years after the complaint was first lodged, the complainants still await a substantive determination of their case.
The Findings
The Procedural Review Committee found that:
The NCP failed to apply the OECD Guidelines as the relevant standard
The complainants argued that the NCP had assessed the complaint using the UK’s biomass "sustainability" rules, and that those rules permit companies to clear‑cut forests for fuel, including old‑growth and primary forests, and to treat the burning of forest biomass as producing net‑zero CO2 emissions.
The NCP admitted that it "relied on UK policy" and treated compliance with UK domestic policy as compliance with the OECD Guidelines. The Committee found this to be a material breach of the NCP's own complaints procedures. The Guidelines' deference to domestic law applies only where there is an actual conflict with binding domestic law or regulation, not non-binding domestic policy. In the absence of such a conflict, the presumption is that an enterprise "levels up" to the OECD standard.
The NCP failed to apply relevant international standards
The Committee found that IPCC Guidelines constitute a "relevant international standard", given their direct relevance to emissions calculations – a central issue in the complaint. The ICC Marketing Code, CAP Code, and CMA Guidance were prima facie relevant to determining what constitutes "fair business, marketing and advertising practices." The NCP's failure to engage with these standards was a further procedural failing.
The NCP failed to inform the complainants that it had held meetings with government departments and agencies
The NCP breached its own complaints procedures by failing to inform the complainants that it had held meetings with government departments and agencies regarding the complaint, including Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Ofgem, the Advertising Standards Authority, and the Competition and Markets Authority. It further breached its own procedures by sharing its draft Final Statement with DESNZ, a government department and not a party to the complaint, and by including substantive new material in the Final Statement that was not based on the parties' factual comments, thereby exceeding its powers and failing to accord the complainants appropriate fairness.
The NCP's failings were sufficiently numerous, serious, and disproportionately to the detriment of the complainants as to have created the appearance of bias
This conclusion was informed by internal correspondence, obtained by the complainants under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, between the NCP and DESNZ, which included discussion of the ongoing judicial review brought by one of the complainants against the Government's Biomass Strategy.
Outcome
On the basis of the material breach under Ground 1 (the NCP's failure to apply the OECD Guidelines as the relevant standard) the Committee recommended that the complaint be remitted to the NCP for reconsideration. The finding of apparent bias provided a further, independent basis for that recommendation.
Drax under scrutiny by multiple entities
The renewed OECD investigation comes at a time when Drax is already under scrutiny from UK regulators, including ongoing investigations by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Financial Reporting Council, both of which are considering whether Drax has made misleading statements.
Andrew Short and Tiffany Morgan at Mishcon de Reya have acted pro bono for The Lifescape Project and the Partnership for Policy Integrity for several years in relation to their OECD complaint against Drax and are separately investigating a potential greenwashing claim against Drax for misleading its shareholders as to its environmental credentials.
Andrew Short, partner at Mishcon de Reya, commented:
"We are pleased that the NCP has recognised the seriousness of the issues raised and has decided that this investigation must be reopened. The NGOs first brought their complaint in 2021, and it has been a long process to ensure that the complaint is taken seriously and that OECD Guidelines are applied correctly. This decision is an important reminder that both energy companies and the regulators overseeing them must be subject to proper scrutiny, particularly where environmental claims may mislead consumers or the public."
“We are proud to have supported The Lifescape Project and the Partnership for Policy Integrity throughout this matter, and we look forward to seeing the outcome of the OECD's renewed assessment."