Human rights and environmental due diligence in the Green Transition: toward greater accountability amid geopolitical and sustainability challenges

This policy brief from the Mistra Geopolitics research programme examines the role of mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) in managing the risks associated with critical raw material supply chains during the green transition, warning that current EU legislative trends may weaken these protections.

• The authors assert that a new EU proposal to align the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Taxonomy Regulation via an Omnibus law is likely to weaken existing HREDD obligations.
• Effective implementation of HREDD at the corporate level is currently obstructed by a lack of transparency, insufficient traceability, and an excessive dependence on private voluntary standards for compliance, which complicates corporate accountability.
• To ensure HREDD rules are effective, they should be incorporated into critical raw material supply chain policies and supported by strict reporting, robust enforcement, clear implementation guidance, and rigorous monitoring of due diligence systems.

APA

M., G., M-T., G., R., K. L., A., F. P., & A., S.-V. (2025). Human rights and environmental due diligence in the Green Transition: toward greater accountability amid geopolitical and sustainability challenges. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/publications/human-rights-environmental-due-diligence-green-transition/

Chicago

M., Gordon,, Gustafsson, M-T., Kløcker Larsen, R., Frohn Pedersen, A., and Schilling-Vacaflor, A. Human rights and environmental due diligence in the Green Transition: toward greater accountability amid geopolitical and sustainability challenges. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2025. https://www.sei.org/publications/human-rights-environmental-due-diligence-green-transition/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=M. |first1=Gordon, |last2=M-T. |first2=Gustafsson, |last3=R. |first3=Kløcker Larsen, |last4=A. |first4=Frohn Pedersen, |last5=A. |first5=Schilling-Vacaflor, |title=Human rights and environmental due diligence in the Green Transition: toward greater accountability amid geopolitical and sustainability challenges |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=10 March 2025 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/human-rights-environmental-due-diligence-green-transition/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{m2025human, author = {M., Gordon, and M-T., Gustafsson, and R., Kløcker Larsen, and A., Frohn Pedersen, and A., Schilling-Vacaflor,}, title = {{Human rights and environmental due diligence in the Green Transition: toward greater accountability amid geopolitical and sustainability challenges}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/human-rights-environmental-due-diligence-green-transition/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }