Sustainable Corporate Governance Initiative: Due Diligence Principles and Practical Experience

The aim of the webinar is to clarify the content of due diligence standards and, based on good practice examples, explain how companies can effectively implement them. Aimed primarily at representatives of public administration and the business sector.

The European Commission is planning to publish its Sustainable Corporate Governance proposal and submit it to Parliament and Council in February or March 2022. A key element of this proposal should be rules on sustainability due diligence, based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and OECD standards. In the context of the EU's sustainable finance strategy, due diligence is one of the conditions for the so-called sustainable activities according to the EU taxonomy and green financing under the SFDR, including green bonds.

The proposal should clarify how companies should approach the identification and management of significant negative impacts related to their business model and value chains. Due diligence is a risk-oriented process. Its requirements are based on the company's position, its involvement in adverse impacts, and its ability to influence these impacts.

This webinar will explain due diligence standards and provide experience with the implementation of the German legislation as well as experience with the implementation of UN and OECD standards from the business sector on how to implement due diligence and use it meaningfully for better business governance.