Representatives from civil society organizations, government entities, and the private sector along with researchers from various disciplines, convened to discuss the issue from diverse perspectives. Photo: private.

In recent years, the European Union and its member states have begun to adopt a potentially ground-breaking set of binding measures. These measures hold European companies accountable for severe human rights violations and environmental degradation that take place during the production of goods imported from outside Europe. These regulations, known as human rights and environmental due diligence, is a globally recognized is globally recognized process that obligates companies to assess and address negative impacts caused by subsidiaries and suppliers. These EU regulations are part of a broader global trend towards sustainable trade and production. Several countries, including Germany and France, have already introduced similar due diligence laws in place.

Discussing the potential of the new regulations

The conference, organized by Maria-Therese Gustafsson, Associate Professor of Political Science at Stockholm University, and Almut Schilling-Vacaflor, Postdoc at the University of Osnabrück, was entitled "Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence: Towards Sustainable and Just Supply Chains?".

"We are witnessing a surge in new regulations concerning sustainable supply chains and trade. The objective of the conference was to discuss this policy development from various angles and gain a deeper understanding of the potential impact of these new regulations. Will they genuinely bring about substantial change, or do they run the risk of becoming a new form of greenwashing, where companies try to appear more environmentally friendly than they actually are," says Maria-Therese Gustafsson.

Representatives from civil society organizations, government entities, and the private sector along with researchers from various disciplines, convened to discuss the issue from diverse perspectives. A representative from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) provided for insights into the functioning and enforcement of the German law. Additionally, several representatives from civil society organizations, both in Europe and production countries in the global south, were present, sharing their perceptions of due diligence.  These organizations play a vital role as they often have in-depth knowledge of corporate impacts in producing sites.

One tool among many to challenge unsustainable business models

There has long been an imbalance where companies have had a lot of power and have been able to make profit from producing goods in the global south, but have not had to take responsibility for human rights abuses and environmental degradation that occurs in the production process.

“These regulations aim to enhance corporate accountability and foster more sustainable trade,” says Maria-Therese Gustafsson. “What came apparent during our discussions is that due diligence regulations are not a silver bullet, but rather perceived as one tool among many. There are important limitations with regards to the institutional design of the adopted regulations. Still, civil society organizations see these regulations as a tool to challenge unsustainable business models.”

Gained an in-depth understanding

“We hope that following this conference, participants have gained a more profound understanding of what these regulations mean, and that networks have been created for future discussions and knowledge exchange on these issues.”

This was the final conference of a three-year research project funded by Formas, "Bringing the social dimension into deforestation-free supply chains: Lessons from Europe's beef and soy imports from Brazil".