Corporate Self-Regulation and the Climate : the Legal Trajectory of Sustainability Due Diligence in the European Union

The aim of this chapter is to inform reflection on business self-regulation (or corporate social responsibility, ‘CSR’) in addressing climate change by drawing on developments in ‘business and human rights’ and the experience accumulated in the EU. Despite dissimilarities in addressing the environmental and human right impacts of business operations, there are commonalities around incentives, impacts and regulatory dynamics of CSR that help clarify its expected place in global governance. This analysis revisits long-standing claims about CSR in light of current legal and market evolutions. The main finding is that the notion of CSR has been fundamentally transformed in the last 20 years. What is the change, what are the drivers enabling such change, and what are the expected impacts on corporate compliance and sustainability performance? The analysis contributes to the regulatory governance area, including regarding climate change, and promotes cross fertilization among the social and environmental areas in CSR