14 June 2024
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive beyond Europe
The CSDDD is a game changer that forces a large number of European States to level the legislative landscape with regard to corporate responsibility for human rights and environmental impacts, as well as in relation to liability and access to justice. And yet, its reach throughout global “chains of activities” will most likely bring important hurdles for implementation including in relation to the scope of human rights covered in practice; the need for effective capacity-building in transnational chains of activities; the need for a more proactive dialogue and cooperation between the EU and other States; and last but not least, in ensuring consistency between the national implementation of the CSDDD and international and regional human rights obligations. Continue reading >>
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10 June 2024
From Paper to Practice
The CSDDD requires companies to carry out due diligence on actual and potential human rights and environmental adverse impacts. This means companies have to identify harmful impacts in their value chains and take appropriate measures to prevent, mitigate, or bring them to an end. In this two-part blog post, we will look at which environmental impacts are covered by the CSDDD and how they are addressed. In this second part, we will discuss how the CSDDD negotiations influenced the design of its environmental provisions and identify missed opportunities. We will conclude by analysing what factors are important to ensure that transposition and implementation remain true to the CSDDD’s objectives. Continue reading >>
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23 March 2023
A New York Moment for the Oceans to join the Paris Moment for the Climate?
The recently concluded Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction has been described as the 'New York Moment' for the oceans, to join the 'Paris Moment' for the climate. The Paris Agreement was considered to be such a moment, in part, because it constituted a significant paradigm shift in international environmental law, institutionally as well as substantively. The current draft of the BBNJ arguably contains a paradigm shift of comparable significance for the law of the sea in at least three respects. Continue reading >>29 October 2019
“An Idea Whose Time Has Come”
Human rights institutions have long grappled with the question whether established rights could be violated by environmental degradation. For most people, the short answer is, of course, yes. People have suffered for decades from health impacts of air pollution, contaminated water, odors and the like. The latest global issue to have a huge impact on the enjoyment of rights is climate change. Despite the close link between environmental degradation and the enjoyment of rights, international human rights law does not, as yet, recognize a right to a healthy environment as a human right. Continue reading >>
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