On 24 April 2024, the European Parliament adopted the long-awaited Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). 

The CSDDD creates an obligation for large companies to undertake risk-based due diligence to identify, assess, address and remedy potential and actual adverse impacts on human rights and the environment in connection with a company’s activities and broader business operations. It is hoped that this development will catalyse action from business needed to address key human rights and environmental challenges we face globally and serve as an international benchmark for responsible business conduct. However, this will only succeed if: companies engage meaningfully with the process of due diligence, in line with the expectations of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs); and if it is situated within a wider policy environment which creates enabling conditions for its effectiveness.

This new publication from the Danish Institute for Human Rights: 

• summarises the key elements of the CSDDD;
• considers what is needed to ensure effective transposition and implementation of the CSDDD; and
• offers final recommendations for what is needed to create a coherent policy and regulatory environment in line with the expectations of the UNGPs.