Key take-aways (Module I)

Corporate sustainability: Regulation and governance

1. The three areas of corporate sustainability (environmental, social, and economic sustainability and good governance) are interrelated. Companies are expected to “do no significant harm”/“do no harm” and, where possible, “do good,” including through regenerative practices. Expectations typically scale with company size and ownership.
2. The clarity of language is also a sustainability matter; clear, understandable language improves impact.
3. Corporate sustainability is shaped by a combination of international law, international guidelines and principles, regional and national legislation, companies’ self-regulation, contracts, and internal governance practices.
4. UN Global Compact, UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, UN SDGs, and OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises set widely recognised international guidelines and principles for corporate sustainability.
5. Sustainability due diligence is a risk-based, context-specific process to identify, prevent, mitigate, and account for adverse impacts. It involves steps to embed policy, assess impacts, take action, track progress, enable remediation, and communicate about impacts and actions.
6. Key EU corporate sustainability legislation that influences supply chains include the CSDDD, the Battery Regulation, the Conflict Minerals Regulation, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, the Construction Products Regulation, and the Forced Labour Regulation.
7. Self-regulation, such as management system standards and certificates, plays an important role in implementing sustainable business practices across companies’ supply chains.
8. Contracts translate regulatory and voluntary expectations into concrete, enforceable responsibilities across supply chains.
9. If implemented well, corporate sustainability supports long-term business success via efficiency, cost reductions, and access to markets and capital.

What’s next?

In the next Module, you’ll learn more about the role of contracts in driving sustainability in supply chains.