On 14 December 2023, following several rounds of inter-institutional negotiations, the European Council of the European Union (Council) and the European Parliament (Parliament) announced that a political agreement had been reached on a Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CS3D).  The European Commission (Commission) had initially published its proposal for CS3D on 23 February 2022, with the Council and the Parliament issuing their own positions on the text on 30 November 2022 and 1 June 2023, respectively (see our previous blogs, here, here and here).

Inspired by the 2017 French law on Corporate Duty of Vigilance and the 2021 German Supply Chain Law (see our previous blog post), and in response to growing stakeholder expectations and demands in the EU and globally, CS3D sets out EU standards for human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD), requiring in-scope companies to mitigate their negative impact on human rights and the environment with respect to their own operations, those of their subsidiaries and those carried out by their business partners. In so doing, CS3D seeks to provide legal certainty and a level playing field as regards corporate supply chain obligations.Continue Reading Human Rights and the Environment – EU Institutions Reach Political Agreement On Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive

On 28 November 2023, Baroness Young of Hornsey introduced the Commercial Organisations and Public Authorities Duty (Human Rights and Environment) Bill (the “Bill”) to the House of Lords.  If passed, the Bill would introduce mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (“HREDD”) into UK law.

The description of “reasonable” HREDD set out in the Bill is consistent with the standards set out in the UN Guiding Principles and existing and draft legislation in other jurisdictions (including the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, “CS3D”, as outlined in our previous blog here).  Companies with international footprints, including through their direct operations and supply chains, should already have in place a plan to implement enterprise HREDD processes that meet existing soft law standards and emerging hard law HREDD requirements.

While it is unclear whether the Bill would be supported by the UK Government, companies should already be taking steps to anticipate and prepare for HREDD.  The direction of travel is undoubtedly trending towards HREDD legislation and stakeholder expectations around how companies should respond continue to increase.  In particular, several jurisdictions have already adopted laws that require companies to identify, address, prevent, mitigate and remedy harms in their operations and supply chains (e.g. France, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, the Netherlands) in advance of CS3D which will directly apply to many large non-EU based companies given its broad extraterritorial application, while others are considering such laws (e.g. CS3D) (e.g., see our previous blogs here and here).Continue Reading Business and Human Rights – could the UK adopt mandatory human rights due diligence?

On 24 May 2023, Walk Free, an international human rights group focused on the eradication of modern slavery, published the fifth edition of its Global Slavery Index (the “Index”), which provides a national level analysis of modern slavery across 160 countries.

Modern slavery is a growing global problem against a backdrop of compounding risks.  According to the Index, some 50 million people around the world are living in modern slavery, with a reported 28 million in forced labour, 22 million in forced marriage and 12 million in child labour.  Moreover, the Index estimates that around US$ 468 billion of goods imported by the G20 are at risk of being tainted by modern slavery. This includes products related to: cattle, coal, cocoa, coffee, electronics, fish, garments, gold, palm oil, rice, solar panels, sugar cane, textiles and timber.

The Index includes a heatmap that illustrates where modern slavery risks are more acute.  In practice, this may prove to be a helpful tool for companies seeking to identify and assess human rights (and, in particular, modern slavery risks) in global supply chains in order to respond to: emerging mandatory human rights due diligence (“HRDD“) laws; obligations under established international norms (such as the UN Guiding Principles); and increasing stakeholder expectations.Continue Reading Business and Human Rights – Global Slavery Index 2023 highlights global nature and scope of modern slavery risks in supply chains

Investors across the globe are increasingly putting pressure on legislators to mandate human rights and environmental due diligence (“HREDD“). The UK Government has not been immune from such pressure.

As highlighted in our earlier blog post, in early September 2022, a group of 47 companies, investors, business associations and initiatives operating in

The expectation for businesses to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence (“HREDD“) is increasingly becoming mandated by legislators across the globe.  As discussed in our earlier blog post, mandatory HREDD obligations are already in-place across Europe, including in France, Germany and Norway, whilst the EU is expected to adopt the draft Corporate Sustainability and Due Diligence Directive – which sets out a proposed mandatory HREDD standard – in 2023. Although the UK Government has announced its intention to introduce a new Modern Slavery Bill (see pages 83 to 84 of the Queen’s Speech briefing, published on 10 May 2022), the UK Government has not indicated that it intends to follow Europe’s lead in introducing a UK-level mandatory HREDD law.

As a result, in September 2022, 47 companies, investors, business associations and initiatives operating in the UK published a joint statement calling on the UK Government to “introduce a new legal requirement for companies and investors to carry out human rights and environmental due diligence“. This follows calls, in August 2022, from a group of 39 investors for the UK Government to bring forward a ‘Business, Human Rights and Environment Act’ to mandate all companies operating in the UK to conduct HREDD.Continue Reading Business and Human rights: Investors call on the UK Government to mandate human rights and environmental due diligence

On 23 February 2022, the European Commission published its much-anticipated draft corporate sustainability and due diligence directive (the Draft Directive), after a number of delays (see our Previous Blog).  The Draft Directive sets out a proposed EU standard for human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD). This includes an obligation for companies to take appropriate measures to identify actual and potential adverse human rights and environmental impacts arising from their own operations or those of their subsidiaries and, where related to their value chains, from their “established business relationships”.  The Draft Directive also provides a mechanism for sanctions to be imposed for non-compliance with the due diligence obligations and provides for director responsibility and accountability in relation to a company’s HREDD programme.

Whilst the Draft Directive remains subject to further legislative scrutiny and approval, it provides the most detailed insight yet as to the scope and form of the prospective EU HREDD obligations, and it provides a helpful template for corporates to continue developing their due diligence policies and procedures designed to identify, assess and mitigate adverse human rights and environmental impacts – both in their operations and in their supply chains.Continue Reading Human Rights and the Environment – EU publishes draft Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive

The fashion industry often faces scrutiny from stakeholders to improve due diligence in supply chains.  A landmark proposed bill in New York, drafted last October and presented for the first time to a legislative committee on January 5 2022, is seeking to drive accountability and transparency in the supply chains of fashion companies. The Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act (the “Act“) historic in its scope and nature, would require fashion retail sellers and manufacturers to disclose their environmental and social impacts, and to set out targets to reduce those impacts.
Continue Reading ESG: Fashion in Focus – The Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act

On 6 December 2021, the Netherlands became the latest European government to announce plans to introduce mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) legislation at a national level, adding to a growing movement and proliferation of national HREDD laws. This puts the Netherlands in the company of the likes of France, Germany and Norway (which have enacted or adopted such laws) and Austria, Belgium and Switzerland, among others (which are progressing their own national HREDD laws).

This development comes despite further delay on the publication of HREDD legislation at an EU level (see our previous Blog Post). On 6 December 2021, the Dutch Foreign Trade and Development minister said that he was “very disappointed” at the European Commission’s further delay to introduce EU mandatory HREDD legislation and announced the Dutch Government’s plans to develop and introduce a national HREDD law instead.Continue Reading Business and Human Rights – The Netherlands to Introduce Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence Legislation

The European Commission has indefinitely postponed its much-anticipated directive on human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) – more than 150 days after it was first expected to be published. While the reason for the delay is unclear, 47 civil society organisations have penned an open letter seeking “full transparency on the reasons for the delay and on the decision-making process going forwards.”

Despite this setback, national HREDD legislation continues afoot: laws have been adopted or are in force in France, Germany and Norway, while proposed national legislation is being progressed in a number of other European countries. Most recently, in December 2021, the Netherlands announced its intent to introduce its own national HREDD law in view of the further delay of the proposed EU law.

Legislative developments aside, investors, civil society and other stakeholders are scrutinising how companies identify and mitigate human rights impacts in their operations and supply chains more closely than ever.

And so the message is clear: companies still need to take steps to develop and reinforce their human rights due diligence programmes, both in anticipation of further mandatory HREDD laws and to respond to stakeholder expectations and demands.Continue Reading Business and Human Rights – EU’s Proposed Mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence Law Faces Further Delay

During the COP26 summit, a coalition of 190 countries and organisations committed to phase out coal energy by 2040 as part of their commitment to transition to a low-carbon economy.  The coalition also stated, in their ‘Global Coal To Clean Power Transition Statement’, that they would provide a framework to support affected workers, sectors and communities to make a “just transition” away from unabated coal power.  The coalition’s concern is that the transition to a low-carbon economy may leave many coal-dependent economies at risk of economic hardship and social unrest.

The ‘Just Transition Assessment‘ (the Assessment) recently published by the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) provides important insight into the metrics that NGOs may lobby for in order to achieve what they view as a “just transition” (for information on some of the WBA’s other initiatives, please see our Corporate Human Rights Benchmark publication).  In carrying out the Assessment, the WBA states that it has measured the actions that some of the world’s most influential companies have taken to support workers and communities whilst they transform to low-carbon business models.

The Assessment contends that there is a “systematic lack of action by  companies to identify, prepare for and mitigate the social impacts of their low-carbon strategies”.  The Assessment goes on to state that these purported inadequacies need to be addressed, as transition risks being adversely affected by social unrest among those whose livelihoods are threatened.Continue Reading Just Transition: The World Benchmarking Alliance Publishes Its ‘Just Transition Assessment’