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Article

12 May 2021

Author:
ActionAid, Amnesty International, Anti-Slavery International, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, CIDSE, ClientEarth, European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ), Fair Trade Advocacy Office, Fern, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Forest Peoples Programme, Global Witness and WWF

Briefing outlines why & how environmental protection must be integrated into companies’ due diligence requirements under upcoming EU law

As the European Union (EU) develops a directive on sustainable corporate governance, this briefing outlines why and how environmental protection must be integrated into companies’ due diligence requirements alongside respect for human rights...

Many EU companies are causing or contributing to environmental damage through their own operations or global value chains, creating a huge environmental footprint worldwide.

As the largest trading bloc in the world, the EU has the responsibility to take action to stop business activity from causing and contributing to serious and irreversible environmental harm and loss of natural resources at home and abroad...

The upcoming directive must recognise these connections between human rights and environmental protection. This requires an integrated approach to standards, processes, enforcement and liability.

However, approaching environment protection in the future directive solely through the lens of human rights would leave an important gap in the regulatory framework. Environmental damage can occur without constituting a clear violation of human rights, or without entailing direct or immediate harm to human beings. Both human rights and the environment deserve protection in and of themselves. Therefore, it is critical that the future directive provides specific requirements for environmental protection and covers all potential or actual adverse impacts on the environment. These must be included alongside mechanisms to deal with instances where environmental harm is linked to human rights abuses.

The EU must provide definitions of the adverse impacts which should be addressed by environmental due diligence...

It will be key for the EU to develop and regularly review this list in consultation with stakeholders, including civil society representatives, communities affected by corporate activities and land and environmental defenders...

An optimal mix of civil, administrative and criminal liability of companies would enhance incentives for companies to prevent environmental harm and provide remedies for victims. This should apply whether the environmental harm has human rights implications or not.