Responding to the news that Germany is set to abstain on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), Steve Trent, CEO and Founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation, said:

“German leaders know that failing to back this legislation risks the EU law not being adopted at all, yet that is exactly what they are poised to do. If they refuse to progress this widely supported legislation they will knowingly be failing both people and our natural world.”

“This law would mean more sustainable business practices and set the stage for meaningful corporate responsibility to address and help prevent human rights and environmental risks. This is urgently needed: a recent EJF investigation into human rights abuses in the Brazilian cattle ranching sector found that beef produced at sites linked to forced labour had a high risk of exposure to EU supply chains. With 162,748 tonnes of cattle-related products shipped from Brazil to the Union’s market in 2022, Member States such as Germany and Italy are exposed to the risk of importing these tainted products.”

“It’s time to strengthen due diligence processes by monitoring company supply chains for environmental and human rights violations, not to turn our backs on these abuses and risk implicating EU consumers in them. I urge the Chancellor to take action now, and other Member States to keep pushing for the environmental and human rights protections we need.”