Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)

In April 2024, the European Parliament passed the long-awaited Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), just in time before the European elections. While the group of companies in scope of this landmark directive is not big, the number of companies affected indirectly is vast and spans well beyond the boundaries of the EU.

The legislations have moved from only human rights due diligence to also cover

environmental protection, forced and child labor, conflict minerals, climate change,

deforestation and disclosure

Due diligence is at the heart of implementing responsible business conduct and comes front and center of the different normative standards that apply to all industries.

Due diligence is the process that organizations should carry out to identify,

prevent, mitigate and account for how they address actual and potential adverse

ethical, labor, human rights and environmental impacts in their own operations, their supply chain and other relationships.

While a company must always check the specific requirements of due diligence

legislations which apply to its business, operations and supply chain, the OECD due diligence guidance outlines six basic steps for due diligence implementation.

(Qima whitepaper 2024 May)