Abstract
This chapter looks at the concept of human rights and environmental due diligence and at its possible translation into a legally binding requirement at the national level and at the European Union (EU) level. After presenting its general definition, the chapter deals with the environmental and climate change dimensions of human rights due diligence, which are not explicitly addressed in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). It then presents the existing legislative initiatives at the national level, distinguishing between ‘transparency’ legislation focusing on reporting obligations and legislation on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence, whose most recent examples were adopted in 2021. Finally, it illustrates the EU plans for a directive on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence. While the European Commission’s proposal has been delayed several times, it might see the light in the course of 2022. The chapter highlights the possible role of this type of legislation in giving implementation to the UNGPs.
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Notes
- 1.
Bonnitcha and McCorquodale 2017.
- 2.
Ibid., p 919.
- 3.
OHCHR 2012.
- 4.
Ibid.
- 5.
McCorquodale et al. 2017, p 198.
- 6.
OHCHR 2011 (‘UNGPs’), GP 17, Commentary.
- 7.
Ibid.; Sherman and Lehr 2010, p 4.
- 8.
- 9.
McCorquodale et al 2017, p 200.
- 10.
OHCHR 2011 (‘UNGPs’), GP 18.
- 11.
McCorquodale et al. 2017, p 200.
- 12.
- 13.
OHCHR 2011 (‘UNGPs’), GP 14.
- 14.
Ibid., GP 20.
- 15.
Ibid., GP 21.
- 16.
- 17.
- 18.
Knox 2018, para 18.
- 19.
Boyd 2019, para 72.
- 20.
Ibid.
- 21.
Ibid.
- 22.
Ibid.
- 23.
Hyman 2020.
- 24.
OECD 2011, pp 31–32.
- 25.
Ibid., pp 42–46.
- 26.
See Chap. 4, Sect. 4.3.1.
- 27.
UNEP 2019.
- 28.
Weber and Hösli 2021, p 86.
- 29.
Ibid., p 88.
- 30.
See Chap. 6 in this book.
- 31.
- 32.
Cantù-Rivera 2019, p 232.
- 33.
Dutch, German, UK, Swiss, and French NAPs.
- 34.
Finnemore and Sikkink 1998.
- 35.
Macchi and Bright 2020, pp 218–247.
- 36.
UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 (UK MSA), s 54(12).
- 37.
Australia Modern Slavery Act 2018, No. 153.
- 38.
The UK MSA binds companies carrying out ‘business or part of a business’ in the UK with a global annual turnover of at least £36 million. The Australian MSA concerns companies based or operating in Australia with an annual consolidated revenue of more than AUD$100 million.
- 39.
Cameron 2021.
- 40.
Elson 2021.
- 41.
OHCHR 2011 (‘UNGPs’), GP 21.
- 42.
Harris 2015.
- 43.
Ibid., p i.
- 44.
Ibid., p 1.
- 45.
OHCHR 2011 (‘UNGPs’), Commentary to GP3.
- 46.
Ibid.
- 47.
- 48.
Carrier 2021.
- 49.
Monciardini et al. 2019.
- 50.
Companies employing at least 5000 employees in France or at least 10000 employees worldwide.
- 51.
Loi No 2017-399 du 27 mars 2017 relative au devoir de vigilance des sociétés mères et des entreprises donneuses d’ordre, République Française.
- 52.
Ibid., Article 1.
- 53.
OHCHR 2011 (‘UNGPs’), GPs 20–21.
- 54.
- 55.
Chatelain 2021.
- 56.
- 57.
Macchi and Bright 2020, p 235.
- 58.
Savourey and Brabant 2021, pp 144–145
- 59.
Cossart 2019.
- 60.
The Netherlands Child Labour Due Diligence Act 2019.
- 61.
Spears and Owczarek 2020.
- 62.
Aristova 2020.
- 63.
Spears and Owczarek 2020.
- 64.
Hoff 2021.
- 65.
Large corporations are defined in a way that makes the bill’s personal scope wider than the scope of the French Law (ibid.).
- 66.
Ibid.
- 67.
Debevoise and Plimpton 2021.
- 68.
In 2024, the threshold will be lowered to 1000 employees (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre 2021).
- 69.
- 70.
Ibid.
- 71.
Norwegian Government 2019.
- 72.
Taylor 2021.
- 73.
Kenan 2021.
- 74.
Ibid.
- 75.
Ibid.
- 76.
Commission on Human Rights 2003.
- 77.
Karp 2019, p 5.
- 78.
Ibid.
- 79.
Ibid., p 8.
- 80.
Hamm 2021.
- 81.
Hoff 2021.
- 82.
European Commission 2020.
- 83.
Ibid., pp 98–99, p 556. See also European Parliament 2020a, p 6.
- 84.
- 85.
Regulation (EU) 2017/821 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2017 laying down supply chain due diligence obligations for Union importers of tin, tantalum and tungsten, their ores, and gold originating from conflict-affected and high-risk areas, OJ L 130, p 1–20; Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market Text with EEA relevance, OJ L 295, 12.11.2010, pp 23–34.
- 86.
Directive (EU) 2019/633 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain, OJ L 111, 25.4.2019, p 59–72.
- 87.
EU Code of Conduct for Responsible Food Business and Marketing Practices (2021) https://ec.europa.eu/food/system/files/2021-06/f2f_sfpd_coc_final_en.pdf. Accessed 2 December 2021.
- 88.
Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council Of 22 October 2014 Amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups, OJ L 330/1. The Directive could soon be amended by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, proposed in April 2021 by the European Commission, which would introduce more detailed reporting requirements, including a reporting requirement based on mandatory EU sustainability reporting standards (European Commission, Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2013/34/EU, Directive 2004/109/EC, Directive 2006/43/EC and Regulation (EU) No 537/2014, as regards corporate sustainability reporting, COM/2021/189 final).
- 89.
- 90.
European Parliament 2021b.
- 91.
European Parliament 2021a.
- 92.
Ibid, Article 2.
- 93.
Ibid.
- 94.
Ibid., Article 4(2).
- 95.
Ibid.
- 96.
The Parliament’s proposal, however, is more restrictive than the UNGPs when it defines a company’s ‘contribution’ to adverse impacts as substantial contribution, which introduces a qualification that is absent from the UNGPs and that might give rise to narrow interpretations (European Parliament 2021a, Article 3(10)).
- 97.
Augenstein and Macchi 2021, p 42.
- 98.
European Parliament 2021a, Article 4(4).
- 99.
Ibid., Article 4(8).
- 100.
European Parliament 2021a, Article 19(2).
- 101.
Augenstein and Macchi 2021, p 51.
- 102.
UNGPs, Commentary to GP 17.
- 103.
European Parliament 2021a, Article 19(1).
- 104.
Ibid., Article 19(3).
- 105.
Ibid., Rec 20.
- 106.
In this framework, the EU has also adopted the Sustainable finance taxonomy, a classification system providing ‘companies, investors and policymakers with appropriate definitions for which economic activities can be considered environmentally sustainable’ (Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088 (Text with EEA relevance), OJ L 277, 2.8.2021, pp 1–5).
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Macchi, C. (2022). Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence. In: Business, Human Rights and the Environment: The Evolving Agenda. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-479-2_5
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