The Unintended Consequences of the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive

On March 15, 2024, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD or Directive) was adopted by the EU Council.1 This Directive represents the EU's first piece of mandatory due diligence legislation governing the responsibilities of companies for human rights due diligence and trans...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jowita Mieszkowska
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2024-01-01
Series:AJIL Unbound
Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2398772324000485/type/journal_article
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Summary:On March 15, 2024, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD or Directive) was adopted by the EU Council.1 This Directive represents the EU's first piece of mandatory due diligence legislation governing the responsibilities of companies for human rights due diligence and transition plans for climate mitigation. It also codifies the principle that “all businesses have a responsibility to respect human rights, which are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated.”2 The Directive broadly follows the framework of the non-binding UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) which first introduced the concept of human rights due diligence.3 The CSDDD requires that businesses incorporate human rights due diligence into policies,4 identifying, assessing, preventing, mitigating, and ending actual and potential adverse human rights impacts,5 remedying any impacts and monitoring the effectiveness of these processes.6 The Directive also introduces significant sanctions for non-compliance.7
ISSN:2398-7723