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"The UN Global Compact reaffirms its support for efforts toward mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence"
Building on previous statements, the UN Global Compact reiterates its support for advancing business respect for human rights through mandatory due diligence requirements. Currently, the European Union is making efforts to streamline and simplify its corporate sustainability rules through the proposed EU omnibus regulation. By consolidating the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), and the EU Taxonomy, the EU aims to reduce compliance burdens while addressing concerns over Europe’s economic competitiveness and regulatory complexity.
As the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, the UN Global Compact encourages upholding the ambition of the EU's current corporate sustainability laws. This includes promoting and supporting corporate environmental and social due diligence and accountability, anchored and aligned with international standards. [...]
Legal certainty is a fundamental pillar to ensure that organizations understand their obligations and can act with predictability and confidence over time. [...]
Transparency and participation in regulatory processes are essential to ensuring robust and effective regulations. Multi-stakeholder dialogue and engagement —including businesses, civil society, trade unions, and other key actors—help identify impacts and strengthen the effective enforcement of regulations. [...]
Aligned with the ambition of the UN Global Compact to accelerate and scale the collective impact of businesses by upholding the Ten Principles and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, we support a mandatory due diligence framework that aligns with international standards. We believe that, when adapted to reality, it serves as an essential tool to ensure that companies operating in Europe lead the transition towards a sustainable and resilient economic model. [...]
A US Senator has introduced the PROTECT USA Act, aiming to shield US companies, including tech giants and oil firms, from EU due diligence requirements, including the CSDDD.
In a joint statement, over 360 CSOs from 53 countries strongly criticise Omnibus proposal and urge the Council of the EU and the European Parliament to reject any amendments that weaken the CSDDD.
In a statement, small and medium-sized German enterprises (SMEs) call for an adjustment of the Supply Chain Act to align with the European regulations adopted in 2024, ensuring legal certainty, avoiding unnecessary burdens, and effectively implementing human rights and environmental protection.
Experts from ShareAction, WWF European Policy Office, the European Coalition for Corporate Justice, the World Benchmarking Alliance and Frank Bold shared their views on the European Commission’s Omnibus proposal during a webinar co-organised by these organisations.
In their initial reflection, Shift analyses that the European Commission’s Omnibus Simplification Proposal risks undermining effective risk-based sustainability due diligence and reporting by complicating company efforts, increasing burdens on SMEs, and weakening transparency despite international standards providing clear and practical guidance for meaningful action.
The Danish Institute for Human Rights is concerned about the Omnibus-proposal made by the European Commission, as the proposed changes risk undermining the ability of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) to meaningfully address the challenges of environmental degradation, climate change, and respect for human rights.
CSRD is key to improving access to ESG data, according to the EU banking regulator. The lack of data standardisation and comparability could present challenges to banks.
WWF argues in their press release that the Commission’s Omnibus proposal undermines key EU sustainability laws, threatening the Green Deal and creating regulatory uncertainty.
Kalpona Akter, a labour activist from Bangladesh, criticises the EU's upcoming Omnibus proposal, labelling it as corporate-driven deregulation that weakens the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. She argues that the proposal favours big businesses over workers' rights and jeopardises hard-won protections in global supply chains.
The UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, reiterated its support for a mandatory due diligence framework that aligns with international standards.
In their analysis, SOMO found that the financial cost of complying with the CSDDD – as estimated by the European Commission – would represent only 0.13 per cent of the average shareholder payouts made in 2023.
Some major companies like Nestlé, Unilever, and Signify oppose the European Commission's plan to weaken newly introduced green regulations, arguing that it threatens sustainability efforts, legal certainty, and a level playing field.
In their statement, ECCJ argues that the leaked draft Omnibus proposal severely weakens the EU’s corporate sustainability framework and firmly reject the proposal.
The EU Commission's proposed reforms to sustainability reporting and due diligence are being criticised as deregulation that weakens climate and human rights protections, reduces corporate accountability, and limits investors' access to reliable sustainability data.
The letter from 14 companies and industry associations, including Nestlé, Ferrero, MARS, Primark and Ingka Group | IKEA, says: "Investment and competitiveness are founded on policy certainty and legal predictability. The announcement that the European Commission will bring forward an “omnibus” initiative that could include revisiting existing legislation risks undermining both of these."
In a letter to the European Commission, the GRI urge the EU not to drop the principle of double materiality claiming it is essential for effective sustainability reporting, ensuring companies manage financial risks while also addressing their broader impacts on the environment, people, and the economy.
Global South organisations warn that the EU will fail workers and the environment globally if it weakens or delays the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), urging full implementation of the law to uphold human rights and environmental standards.
Human Level has published this briefing note for companies operating in the EU subject to the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), highlighting the business risks associated with re-opening Level 1 of the directive.
In an open letter to the European Commission, legal scholars expressed concern that a potential reopening Article 22 CSDDD could weaken corporate climate obligations, increase litigation risks, and create regulatory fragmentation.
In a statement, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights encourages the EU not to reopen the CSDDD text, emphasising legal certainty, alignment with the UNGPs, and the importance of transparency and stakeholder engagement.
Dutch businesses urge the EU to uphold and implement the CSRD, CSDDD, and Taxonomy as planned, emphasising the need for legal certainty, a level playing field, and the benefits of strong sustainability regulations.
CSOs argue that the EU must reject calls for corporate-driven deregulation and uphold sustainability laws to protect people, the planet, and small businesses from exploitation.
240 European researchers, mainly economists, have issued an open letter warning of the dangers of the ‘Omnibus’ initiative being prepared by the European Commission.
Finnish CSOs and companies urge the European Commission to avoid renegotiating agreed sustainability due diligence rules, emphasising the need for certainty, timely transposition, and clear guidance.
Frank Bold's analysis examines the positions on the Omnibus proposal, specifically the CSRD and CSDDD, from certain ministries and authorities in Germany and France.
150+ civil society stakeholders have requested in a joint letter that the European Commission does not create further confusion and uncertainty through re-opening agreed legislative texts. The letter also criticises the way in which the Omnibus process has proceeded.
In their commentary, Heidi Hautala and the Resource Centre's Director Phil Bloomer argue that Europe must resist deregulation pressures and maintain strong ESG standards to uphold public trust, protect rights, and ensure legal certainty for businesses.
Signatories request President von der Leyen and Commissioner Dombrovskis to "respect the principles of democratic decision-making enshrined in the Treaty on European Union, which are so important to the credibility, mandate and public trust in the EU institutions."
Investors with a combined €6.6 trillion in assets under management have urged the European Commission to “preserve the integrity and ambition” of the EU’s sustainable finance framework.
Alexander Burr, ESG policy lead at Legal and General Investment Management, told Bloomberg that rolling back the rules “could risk our ability to understand ESG or sustainability-related risks.” The statement has also been covered by other outlets including Forbes and FT SustainableViews.
The European Commission is convening a roundtable with major corporations, particularly from the financial and energy sectors, and civil society groups to discuss revisions to the upcoming Omnibus proposal.
The European Commission announced plans to streamline business regulations to boost innovation. CSOs have criticised this Competitiveness Compass, arguing that it steers Europe in the wrong direction.
Finnish companies face varying levels of preparedness for EU sustainability regulations, with a key challenge including regulatory uncertainty created by the EU, a new study finds.
Transition plans should be “a single, comprehensive strategic planning process that covers all regulatory requirements stemming from applicable legislation” such as the corporate sustainability reporting directive and corporate sustainability due diligence directive (CSDDD), EBA's new guidelines state.
Ten European National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) expressed concerns in an open letter that the EU’s Omnibus proposal could undermine progress on corporate sustainability and create uncertainty for companies.
CSOs criticise France’s push for an indefinite delay of EU legislation, including CSRD and CSDDD, warning it could undermine social and environmental justice despite the country’s prior support for the legislation.
In light of the European Commission's announcement of an 'Omnibus Simplification Package’ , a group of business and human rights experts from legal practice, consulting, academia and the business world have expressed their grave concerns regarding the approch in a letter to the Commission.
In light of the discussions around an ‘Omnibus’ law, companies like Nestlé, Mars, Mondelez, Ferrero, Hershey and Tony’s Chocolonely, as well as other chocolate sector actors, urge the European Commission to not modify any elements of the CSDDD, nor to reopen it for renegotiation by the co-legislators, but to focus on guidance and support for its implementation.
170 civil society groups, human rights and environmental defenders, trade unions and climate activists have published a joint statement "saying no" to the 'Omnibus' proposal announced by EU Commission President von der Leyen to amend three key legislative pillars of the European Green Deal: the CSDDD, the CSRD and Taxonomy Regulation
The due diligence approach allows human rights and environmental risks to be assessed in a contextualized manner. Behind what is criticized as a “bureaucratic” approach, there is therefore far-reaching trust in companies, the authors argue.
Some of France’s largest companies, including Amundi SA and Electricite de France SA, have signed a letter to European policymakers urging them to ensure the bloc sticks with its current timetable for implementing ESG reporting rules.
The paper explores how the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive could promote responsible business practices in Sub-Saharan Africa, with examples of the impact on three commodities– cotton, cocoa, and copper supply chains– and provides an action plan for African policymakers.
The 2024 Danish Institute for Human Rights benchmark assesses the human rights policies and due diligence practices of 30 major Danish companies, measuring their alignment with global standards and contributing to discussions on responsible business conduct and the impact of upcoming EU regulations.
A new report by the EIRIS Foundation, applying its Social LobbyMap methodology, examines and highlights the role of private sector influence in the exclusion of financial sector downstream value chain activities from the scope of the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).
The ECCJ, in collaboration with 8 other CSOs, published a Transposition Guide for the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). This essential guide provides key insights and recommendations for the upcoming transposition phase of this EU directive.
The ActionAid report highlights the need for a gender-responsive approach to the CSDDD, emphasizing the importance of addressing gender inequality, women’s rights, and protections for marginalized groups disproportionately affected by corporate abuses.
The report outlines recommendations for governments and companies to enhance corporate human rights performance through robust regulatory frameworks and collaborative efforts.
The study by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law provides reflections on changes in corporate practice resulting from the implementation of HREDD laws, namely the French DVL and German LkSG, and a comparative analysis of these legal models.
Anti-Slavery International's analysis of the EU CSDDD aims to empower civil society organisations to advocate for its effective implementation, address remaining gaps, and promote fair treatment of workers by businesses.
Trade unions are pushing for stronger human rights protections in the base metals sector, emphasising the role of HRDD frameworks and the CSDDD in improving worker conditions and holding companies accountable.
In its report, UNICEF provides its recommendations to the EU Institutions, EU Member States, and businesses on how to effectively implement the CSDDD for children’s rights.
The particular format of the sector dialogues has had some positive results, but on balance the overall result for civil society is rather patchy – this is the conclusion NGOs participating in those sector dialogues present in a new background paper. Attempts by companies to depict their activities in sector dialogues as stakeholder engagement must be viewed in a critical light against the background of the CSDDD and the German Supply Chain Act.
The guide provides an in-depth analysis of the CS3D Directive, offering recommendations for its transposition into national laws to ensure strong environmental protection while encouraging alignment with international standards and supporting lawmakers, public authorities, and companies in understanding and implementing its provisions.
Non-exhaustive examples showing how questions of effectiveness, current supply network/value chain complexity, and feasibility for companies have been addressed by the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).
The guide provides practical guidance on how to engage with policymakers through the transposition of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive to advocate for alignment with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other international business and human rights standards.
The new blog by BSR says that financial institutions should proactively align with the CSDDD by assessing management gaps, enhancing collaboration, mapping value chains, identifying stakeholders, and developing a roadmap based on international due diligence standards.
Swedwatch views the CSDDD as a positive, long-awaited step towards corporate accountability but urges the Swedish government to strengthen the law during transposition, particularly by addressing gaps in company scope, downstream due diligence, and enforcement.
More than 100 large companies, SMEs and networks including Maersk, Aldi Süd Holding, Cisco, Nokia, H&M Group, Scania and Ritter Sport have united to endorse the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) again at the stage of final formal confirmation.