EU sustainability agenda: implementation and interaction with UK regulation

Event Details

The EU sustainability regulatory landscape is entering a new phase. Following the Omnibus package, companies are reassessing the scope and practical implications of the CSDDD and CSRD, while preparing for other measures including the EU Forced Labour Regulation, the EU Deforestation Regulation and the EU Batteries Regulation, alongside evolving climate, environmental and product-related requirements. At the same time, the EU's broader sustainability agenda is increasingly being framed alongside its competitiveness and industrial policy objectives, including through the Clean Industrial Deal. 

Attention is now shifting towards implementation. The European Commission's recent Guidelines on the Forced Labour Regulation provide greater clarity on what companies should be doing to identify and address forced labour risks, but questions remain around effective due diligence, supply-chain mapping and traceability, and how companies should operationalise a risk-based approach. The Batteries Regulation presents related challenges. Making the battery passport work in practice will require companies to address significant data and coordination gaps across the value chain, from mineral extraction to battery production, while also considering how greater traceability can create value beyond compliance.

This roundtable considers how the EU sustainability agenda is evolving following the Omnibus amendments; how the CSDDD, Forced Labour Regulation, Deforestation Regulation, Batteries Regulation and related measures interact with regulatory frameworks outside the EU; and how businesses can develop coherent approaches to human rights and environmental due diligence when faced with divergent and potentially conflicting legal requirements across their global operations and value chains.

Chair

Dr Irene Pietropaoli, Senior Research Fellow in Business & Human Rights and Director of the Business and Human Rights Forum

Speakers

• Lise Smit, Norton Rose Fulbright
• Rachel Barrett, Linklaters
• Moira Thompson Oliver, Slaughter and May
  
  

Pricing and Registration

This event is open to members of the Business and Human Rights Forum and invited guests. Please contact Dr Irene Pietropaoli to request a place at this event.

Find out more about the Business Human Rights Forum