Sustainability Due Diligence

Sustainability due diligence

Ensuring your company knows and addresses its impacts on people and the planet.

Helping you with due diligence

Whether driven by investor pressure, legislative requirements, the need to attract talent, or the desire to avoid reputational damage and lawsuits, companies are increasingly expected to conduct sustainability due diligence. This involves identifying and addressing any harm to people or the environment within their value chain.

Sustainability due diligence, also known as Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD), is the method by which companies demonstrate their commitment to respecting human rights and protecting the environment.

If you can demonstrate how you learn from your mistakes,
you are on the right track.

Our Sustainability
due diligence services

Are you compliant?

Due diligence is here to stay. International standards have influenced EU rules and national legislations globally.

The frameworks have many overlaps and some gaps.

We help you understand your gaps and how to close them.

Our excellence lies in supporting you to put due diligence into practice – whether your aim is to comply, or to go beyond.

Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)
Corporate Sustainainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
The European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS)
German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG)
French Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law
EU Forced Labor Regulation
UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct (and sector specific guidelines)

Identifying and addressing your impacts

Human rights impact assessment
Human rights management framework
Value chain mapping and impact identification
Prevention and corrective action plans

Actions to minimize and bring harms to an end and finding remedy
Evaluating suppliers or customers
Mergers and Acquisitions
Know your Customer (from a human rights perspective)
New market, new product, new business partner

See also our services under Global Compliance & Complex Markets.

Developing governance and policies

Explicit governance and accountability structures are a prerequisite for effective due diligence. We help you develop policies and codes, integrate it into the business and set up governance and define accountabilities for relevant roles. We offer e.g.

Due diligence policy development and updates
Code of Conduct development and updates
Due diligence integration into your organisation
Updating your contracts

Embedding due diligence into your organisation

For a successful due diligence process, companies need to ensure two key elements: internal competence and integration into internal processes.

Relevant competence development and training to Board, executive level, management, functions, control and line management.
Incorporation of DD into risk, audit, compliance, procurement, legal.
Toolbox: updating and reviewing tools such as checklists, contracts, SAQs, codes, purchasing practices.
Supplementing certifications, external audits and assurance processes from a DD perspective.
“Sanity check” – validate the correctness of your integration and monitor its implementation

Creating stakeholder engagement

To enable meaningful dialogue, it is essential to understand the purpose of the engagement and to treat all stakeholders with respect. Our framework for stakeholder engagement ensures that all interactions are meaningful, ethical, and safe.

We can help you:

Develop an engagement and communication strategy, policy or plan
Map stakeholders
Engage with affected stakeholders for your impact assessment
Engage with proxies, human rights experts, industry and multi-stakeholder initiatives.

Creating your complaints mechanism

Effective remedy requires a systematic approach, not ad hoc solutions. We can help you avoid the “case-by-case” approach and adopt structured procedures for consistent response.

We offer assistance with:

Transitioning from hotlines or whistleblowing to comprehensive complaints mechanisms
Developing complaints procedures and notification mechanisms
Establishing grievance procedures
Preparing your legal and compliance functions
Remediation efforts