Due diligence: Human rights and environmental protection in companies and supply chains

The law on corporate due diligence in supply chains came into effect on 1 January 2023. The Supply Chain Due Diligence Act serves to improve international human rights. To this end, the law defines requirements for the responsible management of supply chains for certain companies.

However, the concept of “corporate due diligence” goes further: it takes into account corporate impacts on human rights and the environment. The project provides information on environmental risks in supply chains in selected sectors of the German economy.

Why companies should consider environmental protection and human rights together 

The protection of the environment and human rights overlap at numerous points. For this reason, companies can only benefit if they develop processes in which both risks are considered together. 

This project aims to help companies move towards this kind of integrated management system.

Integrated management systems for environmental and human rights due diligence

The industry studies are dedicated to the German automotive industry. The studies:

• Provide an overview of the risks of negative environmental impacts at the individual stages of the upstream international value chain for the German automotive industry and describe actual negative impacts;
• Analyse in detail the risks associated with the manufacture of selected vehicle components and stages of the value chain for negative environmental impacts; 
• Show examples of the connections that can exist between (potential) negative environmental and human rights impacts; and
• Show approaches and example measures and provide information about further industry activities and initiatives. 

The industry study covers numerous environmental issues in the German automotive industry:

• Greenhouse gases
• Water
• Land
• Abiotic and biotic resources
• Air pollution
• Water pollution
• Waste

Based on the results of the analysis, selected approaches and measures are proposed in ten profiles. Companies can use these to eliminate, avoid or mitigate negative environmental impacts in the supply chain. In addition, they can be part of coherent due diligence management and can be used for certification, cooperation or reporting.

Proposals and instruments for environmental and human rights due diligence for other sectors

Additional industry reports will follow over the next two years. These will also be published here. Each study will contain industry-specific proposals for environmental and sustainability management. In addition, instruments are being developed to help companies adapt their environmental and sustainability management to the concept of due diligence.