• Be familiar with the normative, management and policy background to corporate sustainability and risk-based due diligence
• Explain key aspects of corporate sustainability and risk-based due diligence as a management process and its direction to identification and management of risks
• Explain differences between risk-based due diligence for corporate sustainability and transactional (financial or legal liability) due diligence
• Be able to analyze demands on corporate sustainability and due diligence and reflect upon their application in various business contexts
• Be able to reflect upon the managerial implications of due diligence demands in regard to corporate sustainability reporting, value chain management and sustainable finance
• Be able to explain the implications for functional managerial tasks of the soft and hard law on corporate sustainability and risk-based due diligence that has been covered in the course

This course aims to equip current or future managers from companies, including SMEs, with knowledge to understand, work with, apply and comply with corporate sustainability and risk-based due diligence demands in their own organisations and in relations to business relationships.

In terms of the time schedule, the course will be organised as follows: Week 1: in-class lectures each week day at CBS, for which students must be present in Copenhagen. Week 2: one on-line class towards the end of the week. Thus, students only need to be physically present in Copenhagen during the first week of the course (Monday-Friday).

An important aspect of responsible business conduct, risk-based due diligence related to corporate sustainability is a common element in guidelines, national legal requirements in various countries, and in EU sustainability legislation. Several countries, such as France, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom and Australia, have adopted laws requiring business organisations to undertake and/or report on risk-based due diligence policies and practices on corporate sustainability. Similar demands exist or are emergent in countries in Asia, the Americas and Africa. EU sustainability policies and laws make knowledge of risk-based due diligence relevant for several operational business functions (including non-financial corporate sustainability reporting, value chain management, sustainable finance and taxonomy, ESG, etc) and sectors (including minerals, plant products and other raw materials).

While most of these demands directly mainly apply to larger companies, they trickle on to the value chain, including SMEs, in Europe as well as in other countries. 

A basic awareness of corporate sustainability and risk-based due diligence is therefore be an asset for many organizations, even if they are not subject to direct requirements. Moreover, many organisations of all sizes, around the world, apply due diligence for corporate sustainability issued based on leading international soft-law guidance, in particular the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct, and the United Nations Global Compact.

For this type of due diligence, the risk focus is directed at risks caused by the organization to society. Importantly, this direction differs from that of ‘transactional’ due diligence, such as financial or legal liability due diligence that many companies are already familiar with. This significant difference in risk orientation, too, underscores the relevance for managers and organisations to attain awareness of the relatively new form of due diligence.

Risk-based due diligence for corporate sustainability issues was originally conceived as a management process for companies to identify and manage their harmful impacts on society on an ongoing basis. The original objective was on developing and implementing effective management processes for that particular purpose, to assist the organization in understanding about and managing its harmful impacts or risks of such impacts, and ensure that affected people and communities were involved meaningfully in processed to identify risks and develop solutions. Transforming this into legal requirements and quantifiable data (that may easily lead to a singular ‘compliance’ focus) without losing the overall and original focus on sustainable and responsible business conduct, requires solid knowledge in business organisations. That applies whether an organization is subject directly or indirectly to the requirements.

Paying attention to the original objectives and novel legal demands, this course introduces managers in SMEs and other organisations to corporate sustainability and risk-based due diligence in terms of contents, context, demands and implementation.

We will also look at how due diligence with a corporate sustainability focus can support other business functions and be of value to general business practices; and how it relates to a fair and just green transition.

The course applies a combination of teaching forms to support participants’ learning: lectures and guest lectures, cases, group discussions and presentations. Guest lecturers will provide insightful thoughts on their own experience and the value and challenges that corporate sustainability due diligence work can entail.

• New theory
• Teacher’s own research

• Discussion, critical reflection, modelling

This is an intense 2-weeks course that cannot be combined with any other course.

If you are a CBS student, please apply for dispensation in your study board in order to sign up for this course. You can find information on your study board at mycbs.dk

As corporate sustainability and risk-based due diligence is a topic that is rapidly evolving due to increasing demands, the literature is also fast evolving. This tentative list is intended to represent types and topics. It will be updated with new literature before course start.  

Schilling-Vacaflor, A. and Lenschow, A. (2023), Hardening foreign corporate accountability through mandatory due diligence in the European Union? New trends and persisting challenges. Regulation & Governance, 17: 677-693. https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1111/​rego.12402

Rasche, A. et al. (2021), ‘Corporate Sustainability – What it is, and why it matters’. Introductory chapter in Rasche et al. (eds) Corporate Sustainability: Managing Responsible Business in a Globalised World, Cambridge University Press.

Lysgaard Andreasen, S. and Holly, G. (2024), Regulating Business and Human Rights in the EU: The Need for a Continued Interplay Between Soft and Hard Law, European Yearbook on Human Rights.

Ooms, M. (2022). Risk-based due diligence reporting in global mineral supply chains and the rule through transparency. The Theory and practice of legislation. 10(1), 48–66. https:/​/​search.informit.org/​doi/​10.3316/​agispt.20220326064328

Buhmann, K and Leonard Feld (2024) Shifting boundaries: a transnational legal perspective on the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, Transnational Legal Theory, 15,  https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1080/​20414005.2024.2426961

Bueno, N., Nadia Bernaz, Gabrielle Holly and Olga Martin-Ortega (2024): The EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDDD): The Final Political Compromise, Business & Human Rights Journal [available at https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1017/​bhj.2024.10]

Umpula, E., & Dummett, M. (2024). The Blood Cobalt Narrative: Addressing Human Rights Concerns or Scaremongering? Business and Human Rights Journal, 1–7. https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1017/​bhj.2024.4

Craig A. Johnson, Jonathan Khosravani (2024). Greening the global battery chain? Critical reflections on the EU's 2023 battery regulations, The Extractive Industries and Society, 18, 101467.

Buhmann, K., Alberto Fonseca, Nathan Andrews and Guiseppe Amatulli (2024): Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement: the concept, practice and governance. In K. Buhmann, A. Fonseca, N. Andrews and G. Amatulli (eds), The International  Handbook on Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement, (Routledge) 2-29 (middle of page) [available through open access at https:/​/​doi.org/​10.4324/​9781003388227]

Claire Bright, Daniel Schönfelder et al. (2024), A Comparative Analysis between the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and the French and German Legislation

[Available at https:/​/​verfassungsblog.de/​a-comparative-analysis-between-the-corporate-sustainability-due-diligence-directive-and-the-french-and-german-legislation/​

Bright, Claire, and Buhmann, K (2021) Risk-based due diligence, climate change, human rights and the justtransition. Sustainability 13(18), DOI https:/​/​doi.org/​10.3390/​su131810454

Buhmann, Karin (2023)  Addressing a human rights paradox in the green transition: Guidance for  invested mining operations to benefit local communities. Journal of Cleaner Production,  online: https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1016/​j.jclepro.2023.137903

Johanna Elbel, Stephan Bose O'Reilly, Rok Hrzic (2023) A European Union corporate due diligence act for whom? Considerations about the impact of a European Union due diligence act on artisanal and small-scale cobalt miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Resources Policy,

https:/​/​doi.org/​10.1016/​j.resourpol.2022.103241.

Excerpts from the OECD’s Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises for Responsible Business Conduct, OECD 2023 (available at: https:/​/​www.oecd.org/​publications/​oecd-guidelines-for-multinational-enterprises-on-responsible-business-conduct-81f92357-en.htm), Chapter II (General Principles)

Excerpts from the OECD (2018). Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct. Paris: OECD

Excerpts from the OECD (2017). Responsible business conduct for institutional investors: Key considerations for due diligence under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. Paris: OECD

Excerpts from the OECD (2017). Due Diligence guidance for meaningful stakeholder engagement in the extractive sector. Paris: OECD.

Excerpts from the OECD (2016). Due diligence guidance for responsible supply chains of minerals from conflict-affected and high-risk areas. Third edition. Paris: OECD.

Excerpts from EU Directives on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence and Corporate Sustainability Reporting.