Netherlands: Draft due diligence law transposing CSDDD, while going beyond EU Directive, "falls short" in explicitly recognizing rights of Indigenous Peoples, argues report
In May 2025, an article published in the Business & Human Rights Journal analyses recent legal developments in the Netherlands, looking at the potential of two draft Dutch due diligence laws in the context of a just energy transition, with a focus on the rights of Indigenous peoples vulnerable in the transition process. The report also considers this in the context of the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.
The article highlights the Netherlands is the first EU state to draft a national law to transpose CSDDD. It says that, while the draft law goes beyond the European Directive “in some respects”, it falls short in terms of recognizing the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The report calls for the Netherlands to “step up”, explicitly taking not account the particular risks Indigenous Peoples face in a rapid transition to green energy. It also highlights that the CSDDD does not take into account specifically the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the substantive articles, “falling short in providing an instrument to protect their rights”.
The first law transposing the European Directive into domestic law, the Dutch draft WIVO, does not (yet) seize the opportunity to raise the level of protection of Indigenous Peoples at the national level. This does not bode well for the coming laws on human rights and environmental due diligence as instruments to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples that face the biggest threat to their rights in the context of the transition to green energy.Stephanie Bijlmakers and Nicola Jägers, “The Rights of Indigenous Peoples Towards a Just Energy Transition: The Dutch Approach to Mandatory Corporate Due Diligence”