"Call for Open Data Principles in EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive Legislation", October 2021

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre have signed an open letter alongside Wikirate, OAR and Clean Clothes Campaign, urging EU members of Parliament and the EU Commission to adopt and incorporate open data principles into the proposed Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

To ensure data is open, it must meet the standards of legal openness and technical openness or the “F.A.I.R” principle:

● F: Findable or easily discoverable on a website or within a database

● A: Accessible or available in a machine readable, “convenient, modifiable form” and published as a whole, complete dataset (not cherry-picked)

● I: Interoperable or able to be mixed with different data sets

● R: Reusable or provided under an (open) license that permits re-use and redistribution, including the intermixing with other datasets.

The reporting frameworks and requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive must integrate Open Data principles to unlock the legislation’s full potential. First, Open Data principles are already European Union policy and recommended in the OECD Due Diligence for Responsible Supply Chains in the Garment and Footwear Sector.

Second, these principles will ensure that one, the data produced as a result of the legislation is accessible to all stakeholders, rather than select groups, and two, that data collation can be automated, meaning accountability can be scaled to encompass all reporting entities across multiple sectors.

Clearly defining the disclosure format and data points required in the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive will also increase adoption of the reporting framework and ensure its scalability.

Complete, open data sets must also be mandatory to realize their full potential to bring about real, long term lasting impact. By having clearly defined, repeatable and predictable reporting forms and methods, and mandating this reporting meets open data standards, costs can be reduced and harmonization across member states will increase, something that benefits all stakeholders.

Please find the open letter attached.