Human Rights Due Diligence: The New Legal Requirement Most Executives Haven't Planned For

For years, human rights due diligence was considered best practice. Something progressive organisations did voluntarily, usually under pressure from investors or advocacy groups.

That era is ending. Quickly.

What the CSDDD Changes

The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. Under CSDDD, organisations are required to identify, prevent, mitigate, and account for adverse human rights and environmental impacts. Not just within their own operations. Across their supply chains.

That means understanding what is happening at your tier-one suppliers. And increasingly, your tier-two suppliers as well.

The scope of this is significant. It applies to labour practices, working conditions, environmental harm, and related impacts across complex global supply chains. Many of which organisations have never been required to scrutinise at this level of detail.

The Practical Challenge for Executives

Most organisations are not yet ready for what CSDDD requires. The data collection challenge alone is substantial. Building the processes to engage suppliers, gather evidence, verify claims, and produce audit-ready reporting takes time and commitment that needs to start at the top.

Executives who treat this as a compliance exercise to delegate to legal or sustainability teams will find themselves exposed. It is a strategic challenge that requires board-level understanding and sponsorship.

The ESG & Sustainability Compliance ExecPack includes a dedicated module on the CSDDD. What changed, what it requires, and how to build the internal capability to meet those requirements in a way that is credible, proportionate, and genuinely embedded in how your business operates.

Because human rights due diligence is no longer something you aspire to. It's something you're accountable for.

Explore the ESG & Sustainability Compliance ExecPack at execpacks.com/packs