Fitting the Pieces of the Puzzle: Making sense of due diligence regulations across the globe

Governments across the globe are increasingly recognizing the implications of supply chain interconnectedness and their dependence on GVCs for achieving economic and sustainable development objectives.

At the same time, multiple adversities—such as the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, the Pakistan garment factory fire, and high deforestation rates linked to export-commodity production in forest-rich countries—have highlighted the need for embedding sustainability-related standards in GVC operations.

Governments have implemented, or are implementing, institutional frameworks that aim to encourage businesses to perform better—for instance, by identifying risks, mitigating and responding to them, and holding the private sector accountable for the impacts of its practices. In that context and specifically in the last 2 decades, due diligence regulations have taken centre stage, with several regulations being adopted by governments, mainly in the Global North, that promote responsible business conduct and respect for human rights and environmental standards.

This paper explores the commonalities between selected due diligence regulations and how various tools, like sustainability standards, can support compliance to further uncover the possibilities of interoperability among these measures. We present some initial findings of our analysis so far, share an overview of identified common themes across the selected due diligence regulations, and highlight some existing tools that can support compliance.