There is a time for disappointment, frustration, resentment and anger. And we need to give space to those emotions. 😪
And also - this is not the end of the road, far from it! The road has taken a different direction than we envisioned, but the end point is the same: a level playing field of rights-respecting and nature-loving businesses. Politics and geo-politics, short-term interests, money and lobbying have thrown us a curve ball, but the road ahead is still strong. 🛣️
1. There are many other laws on the books that integrate human rights expectations of business. In particular, the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which is already law, makes sure that companies cannot cherry-pick which sustainability information to share. The CSRD is based on - you guessed it - the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. So companies will need to report on how they are impacting human rights and the planet, and what they are doing to to address these impacts. And these double materiality assessments need to be informed by science and stakeholder engagement. The CSRD is not a legal duty to do it, but it is a legal expectation to say something about it. Guess what happens when companies have to report on something? They start to do it…. We think that there is much more untapped potential in the CSRD to meet our ultimate end point. We won’t list all of the other laws that are already on the books in this area - including ironically both in France and Germany!
2. The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive is not off the table. We know for a fact that policy makers are working hard as we speak to push the Directive across the finish line before the European Parliament elections. There are two weeks left for the Council to find a new compromise before the Directive can no longer be adopted by the current Parliament. It’s not impossible, and we have our role to play. Have you signalled your support for the Directive by signing a petition here? Has your company added its name to the list of company-led supporting statements? Are you liaising with your business lobbies to ensure the business voice is strong to counter lobbies on the other side - or to help roll back any business lobbying that is mis-guided? Are you liaising with political counter-parts through your Public Affairs department?
3. All of the other drivers are still here, and will become even stronger as the EU CSDDD direction of travel shifts. Do we think that investors will decide to back down because of politics and lobbying at the EU level? 🤔 No. Do we think that civil society organisations will stop campaigning and benchmarking companies? No. Do we think that business partners will stop asking due diligence questions of their business partners? No. In fact, the opposite will happen. We will see a re-doubling of efforts by other drivers of changes. And new life will be breathed into the laws we have on the books, and progressive governments will set their own political processes into motion. 💫
So yes, our road ahead has changed, but it’s still here. And all of us are on it together. 💪🏻💪🏼💪🏽💪🏾💪🏿
This set back makes us stronger and more determined than ever to counter the engrained status quo and combat the fear and ignorance of some in power. We have science, human rights and the future of the world behind us, and we refuse to take a step back. ⏩
No one ever said it was going to be easy, but we all know that it’s worth it. 🌟
Anna
