04/04/2022
Then what?
- Doing your homework for compliance with the newly proposed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD) law - and what have you – you do your mapping, assess the identified adverse human rights impacts. Maybe you have an internal validation process on how to prioritise the severe ones according to your company values and ethical codex. But then what? You are obliged to mitigate and, in some cases, to compensate. Systematically working your way through to transform the adverse impacts into positive ones eventually is expected of you. Want to know how to approach this work strategically for sound growth and sustainable development, feel free to contact us on [email protected]
More on the CSDD:
CSDD is proposed to foster sustainable and responsible corporate behaviour throughout global value chains. Companies play a key role in building a sustainable economy and society and now an actual push for good practice behaviour in Global Value Chain is here, where the first step is the launch of this proposed law.
It requires to identify and, where necessary, prevent, end or mitigate adverse impacts of corporate activities on human rights, e.g. child labour, forced labour, and on the environment, such as pollution and biodiversity loss. For businesses these new rules will bring legal certainty and a level playing field. For consumers and investors, it will facilitate more transparency while advancing respect of human rights and green transition in Europe and beyond.
This proposal applies to the company's own operations, their subsidiaries and their value chains (direct and indirect established business relationships). In order to comply with the corporate due diligence duty, companies need to:
1. Integrate due diligence into policies;
2. Identify actual or potential adverse human rights and environmental impacts;
3. Prevent or mitigate potential impacts;
4. Bring to an end or minimise actual impacts;
5. Establish and maintain a complaints procedure;
6. Monitor the effectiveness of the due diligence policy and measures;
7. And publicly communicate on due diligence.
More concretely, this means more effective protection of human rights included in international conventions. For example, workers must have access to safe and healthy working conditions. Similarly, this proposal will help to avoid adverse environmental impacts contrary to key environmental conventions. Companies in scope will need to take appropriate measures (‘obligation of means'), considering the severity and likelihood of different impacts, the measures available to the company in the specific circumstances, and the need to set priorities.
National administrative authorities appointed by Member States will impose fines in case of non-compliance. In addition, victims will have the opportunity to take legal action for damages that could have been avoided with appropriate due diligence measures.
