Legislative developments around mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (mHREDD) laws are accumulating. The French Duty of Vigilance Law, the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Law, and the Norwegian Transparency Act are already in force, with the text of the EU Draft Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDDD) currently under discussion. The Dutch Bill on Responsible and Sustainable International Business Conduct and the UK campaign for a UK Business, Human Rights and Environment Bill are also drawing attention.
Related legislation contribute further complexities to the landscape, such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Swiss Conflict Minerals and Child Labour Due Diligence law, and the EU Taxonomy, as well as various examples of modern slavery reporting regulations and forced labour import bans.
At the 2023 annual conference of the BIICL Human Rights Due Diligence Forum, expert speakers will consider the implications of these new mHREDD laws for the financial and legal sectors. Insofar as these new laws are based on the concepts of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), the discussion will also draw from expertise gained from the application of the UNGPs and related international documents to the financial and legal sectors over the past decade.