"Huge support for EU law to make companies accountable for the climate crisis", 12 April 2023

New polling has revealed strong public support for a European corporate due diligence law that, if passed, would require companies operating in the EU to take action to reduce their emissions.

The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, currently passing through the EU Parliament, could require companies operating in the EU to take action to identify and prevent human rights abuses as well as environmental harms such as deforestation and pollution along their entire global value chains. The Justice is Everybody’s Business campaign commissioned polling across 10 EU countries including Spain, Austria and France, which revealed that:

Almost three quarters (74%) of Europeans support an EU law which would require all companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, with (65%) calling for companies to reduce their emissions even during an energy crisis.

Almost two thirds (64%) believe banks must also be held accountable for the actions of businesses they invest in or lend money to.

Since the introduction of the draft law to Parliament, financial institutions have spent at least €100 million on lobbying the European Union. Countries like France have pushed to exclude the financial sector from the proposed new EU due diligence rules.

Alongside the polling, over 200 leading figures and civil society organisations have signed a statement demanding ‘a strong EU law that is fit to tackle the climate crisis and deliver climate justice’. The letter includes signatories from notable campaigners such as Camille Etienne (France), Adélaïde Charlier (Belgium) and Luisa Neubauer (Germany). The letter comes ahead of a critical vote on the draft legislation by MEPs in the Committee on Legal Affairs.