Towards New Human Rights and Environment Due Diligence Laws: Reflections on Changes in Corporate Practice
Dr Irene Pietropaoli, Dr Jasmine Elliott, Dr Sofia Gonzalez De Aguinaga
HREDD laws - i.e. laws that require companies to carry out a HREDD process - are already in place or in development across a growing number of countries, particularly in Europe. Alongside CSOs, increasingly, businesses are calling for 'effective' HREDD legislation. In 2017, France adopted the duty of vigilance law (DVL), the first HREDD law, and in 2023 the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) came into force. In June 2024, after more than two years of legislative journey, the EU adopted the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), which will introduce HREDD requirements for large companies operating in the EU.
Hundreds of businesses have supported the adoption of the CSDDD. As HREDD is moving from voluntary expectation of business responsibility to mandatory requirement, businesses have continued advancing their HREDD process and related corporate practice. Companies and their legal advisers are already taking steps towards implementation of upcoming requirements under the CSDDD.
Our study (download the full report), published in October 2024, provides reflections on changes in corporate practice resulting from the implementation of HREDD laws, namely the French DVL and German LkSG, and a comparative analysis of these legal models.
In the comings days we will publish a series of blogs reflecting on different aspects of corporate changes.
