Sustainable businesses demand mandatory due diligence on human rights and environment for all companies

In a new position paper on sustainable corporate governance, Ecopreneur.eu advocates mandatory due diligence on human rights and environment for all companies. We urge the EU to strengthen the recent European Commission’s proposals, which do not go far enough, and adopt them without further delay. 

We welcome the proposal as a long-overdue first step, including the large number of support measures for companies. However, the legislation should apply to all businesses regardless of size, across the full value chain, and inform all stages of the due diligence process. A tick-box approach should be avoided. The regulation should be brought in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and OECD guidelines and extend to all business relations, including spot markets. It should also be extended to governance risks, with a focus on anti-bribery and corruption, and provide for strong enough legal sanctions at the level of individual companies. The administrative burden of due diligence should be minimised, especially for SMEs, that also need more support at the regional level. Finally, any corporate directors’ variable remuneration incentives should be linked to their contributions to companies’ sustainability efforts (“green bonuses”).

For more specific recommendations please read our full position paper HERE.