In person icon The Politics of Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence: Policy Development and Contestations in a Shifting (Geo)Political Landscape

Abstract

Human Rights and Environmental Due diligence (HREDD) legislation have been hailed as critical to reduce negative externalities in global value chains, yet the path toward effective regulation is fraught with intense political contestations, lobbying, and complex stakeholder dynamics. This panel explores the challenges of designing and implementing due diligence laws with a focus on the political forces shaping legislative outcomes and enforcement processes. A central theme across the papers is the contested relationship between voluntary measures and mandatory regulations: while civil society organizations pushing for more robust enforcement mechanisms, business actors have often sought to delegitimate and/or weaken regulatory expansion with the argument that voluntary standards offer more adequate solutions to global value chain problems. The prospects for effectively regulating global value chains appear increasingly uncertain amid mounting geopolitical tensions, where global value chain regulations are increasingly framed as incompatible with economic competitiveness. Meanwhile, political and economic actors have mobilized to roll back and/or dismantle regulatory rules within the European Union. The contributions explore the evolving governance frameworks for corporate accountability in global value chains, the political dynamics shaping regulatory agendas, and the role of business actors in shaping policy outcomes. One paper explores Canada's reliance on voluntary business practices over mandatory regulations, highlighting the barriers to adopting comprehensive due diligence legislation despite international calls for stronger action. Another examines the rapid adoption of the European Union’s Critical Raw Materials Act, where geopolitical and economic interests overshadowed environmental and social concerns, illustrating the contestation over regulatory priorities in supply chain governance. A third paper analyzes the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, shedding light on the collaboration and conflict between industry, civil society, and government stakeholders as they navigate the governance of global value chains. Finally, a conceptual paper introduces the political economy of expectations in the context of due diligence legislation, arguing that the success of due diligence legislation is contingent on how well regulators create credible expectations of enforcement that induce coordinated preparatory actions. Economic actors, in turn, may also strategically shape expectations to affect policy enforcement, as demonstrated through the delayed implementation of the EU’s Deforestation Regulation. Together, these papers provide a comprehensive view of the political, economic, and social forces that shape the contested lawmaking and enforcement processes of due diligence laws. By doing so, they offer key insights for future regulatory efforts aimed at holding businesses accountable for the negative externalities in their global supply chains.

Title	Details
Can Due Diligence Laws pay out for workers? – Effects of Regulation Design and Contextual Factors for the Indian Apparel Industry	View Paper Details
Exploring Canada’s Policy Gaps: Advancing Effective Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence in Global Supply Chains	View Paper Details
Supply chain governance as a site of regulatory contestation: The case of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act	View Paper Details
Collaboration and contestation in the shaping of the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive: implications for global value chain governance	View Paper Details
Deconstructing Due Diligence: The Contested Politics of Corporate Sustainability in the EU	View Paper Details
The political economy of expectations in the context of due diligence legislation	View Paper Details