Accompanying mandatory human rights and environment due diligence with collaborative partnerships, guidance and support – perspectives from the private sector

In the second half of 2021, the European Commission will put forward a legislative proposal on sustainable corporate governance as an important contribution to the European Green Deal objectives. This proposal foresees a mandatory environmental and human rights due diligence obligation for EU companies and their global supply chain partners. It has the potential to achieve system-level change in responsible business conduct and to improve livelihoods, working conditions, and respect for human rights and the environment in producer countries

A legal due diligence obligation will not achieve these results alone. It must be bolstered by support and guidance to incentivize, facilitate and inform meaningful engagement of EU companies with suppliers in developing countries, and capacity building for local producers to allow them to adopt sustainable production practices. A partnership approach is crucial for the effective implementation of due diligence. It must combine public and private sector collaboration to ensure better impact and more inclusive results.

Building on the experience of several years of collaboration in development and promotion of good trade, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) have joined forces to strategically assess the potential implications of mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence in an internal expert workshop that will take place on 2nd and 3rd of June.

Together with other participating partner organisations, they will leverage on their combined experiences, practical knowledge and critical thinking to facilitate the co-creation of tools and recommendations for accompanying forthcoming legislation on due diligence and global supply chain sustainability with collaborative partnerships and effective support.

The fireside chat is a public online event organized to complement and enrich the workshop discussions and thinking about accompanying support measures with relevant perspectives from the private sector.

The fireside chat brings together a distinguished panel of companies, farmer cooperatives and business organizations who are leading the way towards global supply chain sustainability. It will serve to discuss preliminary results from the expert workshop and integrate the views from the private sector into the further elaboration of an inclusive and effective support framework for companies and partner countries.

The speakers

Opening remarks:

• Dorothy Tembo, Deputy Executive Director, ITC; and,
• Cecile Billaux, Head of Unit INTPA.E2, Micro-economic Analysis, Investment Climate, Private Sector, Trade and Employment, European Commission.

Panel discussion:

• Marike de Peña, Director Banelino Farmer Organization and Representative of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fair Trade Small Producers and Workers (CLAC)
• Bekir Aslaner, VP, Coordinator, AYTIM GROUP
• Bettina Roth, Head of Quality and CSR Supply Chain, VAUDE Sport GmbH & Co. KG
• Stefan Crets, Executive Director, CSR Europe
• Nanda Bergstein, Director Corporate Responsibility, Tchibo GmbH
• Richa Mittal, Senior Director, Supply Chain Innovation and Partnerships, Fair Labor Association

The discussion will be facilitated by:

• Hernan Manson, Head Inclusive Agribusiness Systems Division of Enterprises and Institutions, ITC
• Auret van Heerden, Sustainability and Fair Labour expert, ITC
• Matthias Altmann, Policy Officer Corporate Sustainability, DG INTPA, European Commission

Venue

Fireside chat – Online public event

Zoom