How the EU can hold companies to account

The document argues that the EU's proposed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive is a critical opportunity to hold companies accountable for harms in their value chains. Global Witness proposes five key enhancements: establishing a clear duty to prevent human rights and climate harms, mandating safe stakeholder engagement, removing barriers to justice for victims, preventing reliance on third-party verification to rebut liability, and applying the same due diligence requirements to financial institutions.

• Global Witness recommends that the EU establish a mandatory corporate duty to prevent human rights, environmental, and climate harms across the entire value chain, while ensuring that financial institutions are subject to the same due diligence requirements as other companies.
• The briefing calls for the EU to mandate safe and meaningful stakeholder engagement in the due diligence process, specifically accounting for the safety of Land and Environmental Defenders (LEDs) and Human Rights Defenders (HRDs).
• To ensure accountability, Global Witness argues that the EU must address barriers to justice for victims and prevent companies from using contractual assurances or third-party verifications as the sole means to establish compliance or rebut liability.

APA

Global Witness (n.d.). How the EU can hold companies to account. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/corporate-accountability/briefing-how-the-eu-can-hold-companies-to-account/

Chicago

Global Witness. How the EU can hold companies to account. n.d. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/corporate-accountability/briefing-how-the-eu-can-hold-companies-to-account/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Witness |title=How the EU can hold companies to account |url=https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/corporate-accountability/briefing-how-the-eu-can-hold-companies-to-account/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalwitnessndhow, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{How the EU can hold companies to account}}, institution = {Global Witness}, url = {https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/corporate-accountability/briefing-how-the-eu-can-hold-companies-to-account/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }