Exercises > Mapping the sources of sustainability requirements in your company
This exercise refers to the content of "Contracts"; please refer to that page for context and to learn more (part of Module I. Contextualizing corporate sustainability).
Exercise: Mapping the sources of sustainability requirements in your company
Complete this exercise in a team consisting of people from the sustainability, legal/compliance, procurement, product, technical, and quality teams, for example. You can also complete this exercise by yourself.
Identify the most relevant corporate sustainability regulations that apply to your company
International guidelines and principles:
Begin mapping with international guidelines and principles: Global Compact, UNGPs, SDGs, OECD Guidelines.
- Is your company committed to any of these?
- How do you know?
- Do you ask your suppliers to commit to the same international guidelines and principles?
- Why or why not?
EU sustainability rules:
After mapping the international guidelines and principles, address the EU sustainability rules that apply to your products, operations, and value chain.
- Which regulations are the most relevant, and why?
Note that even if your company is not directly within the scope of a regulation, the requirements can still apply to your company, for instance, via contracts.
Self-regulation:
What about international and national standards and certificates?
- Is your company committed to any of them?
- Does your company require its suppliers to adhere to the same standards and certificates?
- Why or why not?
National law:
Now, choose one of your company’s main operating countries and list the key national laws relating to the protection of human rights, the environment and preventing corruption.
As you map the sources of sustainability requirements in your company, you may notice that they come from different sources and apply in different ways across your operations and supply chains. In the next modules, you will learn how to make sustainability requirements part of the contract stack, clearer, more structured, and more workable in practice.