Runaway Risk: How EU can prevent corporate abuse

Global Witness calls for an ambitious Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) to hold EU companies accountable for environmental and human rights harms. The brief highlights a $15 billion airport project in the Philippines involving Dutch companies that resulted in mangrove destruction and family displacements. It recommends that the EU include comprehensive definitions of environmental harm, mandatory scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions due diligence, and the incorporation of international standards like the Paris Agreement and the Ramsar Convention.

• Global Witness identifies a case where two Dutch companies are positioned to profit from the New Manila International Airport project in the Philippines, a $15 billion development that has led to the destruction of flood-protecting mangrove forests and the displacement of hundreds of families.
• To prevent corporate abuse, Global Witness recommends that the CSDDD include mandatory climate due diligence for scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, science-based transition plans aligned with the Paris Agreement, and a definition of environmental harm consistent with the EU's Sustainable Finance Taxonomy and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
• The briefing urges the EU to mandate genuine stakeholder engagement that recognizes the rights of Indigenous Peoples to Free, Prior and Informed Consent and protects land and environmental defenders from reprisals through accessible grievance mechanisms aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

APA

Global Witness (n.d.). Runaway Risk: How EU can prevent corporate abuse. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/runaway-risk-how-eu-can-prevent-corporate-abuse/

Chicago

Global Witness. Runaway Risk: How EU can prevent corporate abuse. n.d. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/runaway-risk-how-eu-can-prevent-corporate-abuse/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Witness |title=Runaway Risk: How EU can prevent corporate abuse |url=https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/runaway-risk-how-eu-can-prevent-corporate-abuse/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalwitnessndrunaway, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{Runaway Risk: How EU can prevent corporate abuse}}, institution = {Global Witness}, url = {https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/land-and-environmental-defenders/runaway-risk-how-eu-can-prevent-corporate-abuse/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }