The regulatory environment
The various reporting standards such as the German Sustainability Code (DNK), CDP, and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) formulate various requirements for companies with regard to sustainable supply chain strategies and management. But at the legal level, in particular, companies are increasingly being required to align their supply and service chains sustainably, e.g. on the basis of the Supply Chain Sourcing Obligations Act (German Website; in German Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz, LkSG) or the EU Commission’s proposal to amend the Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSR) Directive (previously known as CSR-RUG in Germany).
The requirements include, among others, a declaration of principles recognising corporate responsibility, the analysis of ecological and human rights and/or social risks, but also opportunities in various stages of the value chain for the implementation of prevention and mitigation measures, the introduction of grievance mechanisms, reporting, and the introduction of ongoing risk management.