13th United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights

Session co-organized by the Working Group on Business and Human Rights, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Southern Voices

Brief description of the session:
The shift from solely voluntary guidelines to a smart mix of measures that includes an enforceable legislative framework based on Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) could have significant positive impact on the business environment and livelihoods of stakeholders across value chains, including farmers, workers, small and medium-sized enterprises that form the foundation of many global value chains. However, this shift does not come without risks. If not implemented in an inclusive way, taking into account the needs and contexts of different value chain stakeholders, HREDD legislation may impose additional burdens and costs in production countries and/or for businesses, potentially leading to the unintentional exclusion of value chain actors or to disengagement. For an inclusive approach, it is vital to foster an ecosystem that embraces the perspectives of all stakeholders, including those from the Global South.
Therefore, the adoption and implementation of HREDD policies and legislation must be accompanied by meaningful support for all actors in the value chain, including stakeholders in supply chains. This includes empowering them to meet higher sustainability standards. It is essential that local knowledge about the development context, as well as the social and economic dynamics in these regions, be incorporated into the implementation process. This means that HREDD should be contextualized to reflect the diverse aspirations, needs and development contexts of all stakeholders throughout the value chain, including knowledge of the regulatory landscape in production countries.

Article 20 of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) 2024 includes the notion of accompanying measures to make implementation possible in diverse contexts and support companies, stakeholders in supply chains and local producers to conduct meaningful and impactful HREDD. For the directive to be truly effective, it must be implemented in a way that fosters cooperation between buyers, suppliers, and stakeholders in both consumption and production countries.

An inclusive and collaborative approach is essential to ensuring that the directive, as well as other HREDD initiatives, lead to positive outcomes for all value chain actors and to make sure that concerns of potential oversight and invisibilities of critical issues facing the workers and farmers in supply chains are addressed. Open dialogue is crucial to understanding the impact of HREDD legislation on local communities and integrating these insights into policymaking.

Key objectives of the session:
- Strengthening partnerships between value chain actors in consumption and production countries influenced by HREDD legislation.
- Inspiring governments to develop HREDD policies and legislation, by sharing the advantages of HREDD legislation, such as creating level playing fields and competitive advantage of businesses.
- Showcasing EU CSDDD as an example of an enforceable legislative framework related to HREDD, with an implementation process that includes inclusive dialogue, engagement of producer countries and accompanying measures.
- Capturing perspective from the Global South to inform the implementation of HREDD legislation and the development of accompanying support measures.
- Sharing good examples of multistakeholder approaches, partnerships and HREDD activities.