Companies and organizations are committed to sustainability both at the national German level and across the EU.
Since 2023, under threat of sanctions under the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG), companies with over 3,000 employees and from 2024 all with over 1,000 employees have been obliged to counter human rights and environmental risks through appropriate risk analyses (§5LkSG) and internal risk management (§4LkSG). We advise you on your legal due diligence obligations (§3LkSG).
The European Commission presented a proposal for a directive on sustainable corporate governance on February 23, 2022. On December 14, 2023, a preliminary political agreement on the directive was reached between the EU Council Presidency and the European Parliament. On March 15, 2024, the qualified majority of EU member states voted in favor.
The guideline stipulates that companies in the scope of application will in the future identify risks in their business area as well as concerning their subsidiaries and their business partners, take preventative and remedial measures, and report on them. Companies must appropriately keep an eye on both the upstream chain (e.g. raw material extraction, production) and, to a limited extent, the downstream chain (e.g. transport to the end customer). In important points, the CSDDD is closely based on the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG). It is also closely aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and contains formulated due diligence obligations for companies to respect human rights and environmental concerns in the value chains.
Let’s find out together what this means for your company, how you can meet these new obligations, and how you can still benefit from the data collected for your business management.