The CSDDD Post-Omnibus: What Corporates Need to Know About Supply Chain Due Diligence
min read
In this video, Kerry Stares, Partner and Director of Responsible Business at Charles Russell Speechlys, breaks down the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) in light of the 2025 Omnibus amendments, and what these changes mean for corporate human rights and environmental due diligence obligations across global supply chains.
This video covers:
- What the CSDDD requires: the core obligations for risk-based human rights and environmental due diligence across a company's own operations, subsidiaries and "chain of activities", including the scope of upstream and downstream business partner activities caught by the Directive, and the confirmation that in-scope companies are no longer required to hold or disclose a climate transition plan.
- Who falls within scope: the revised employee and turnover thresholds for EU and non-EU companies, the lower thresholds applicable to franchising and licensing groups, and why companies outside the thresholds should still expect to be drawn into due diligence information requests from in-scope business partners.
- How due diligence works in practice: the two-stage risk-based process of scoping and in-depth assessment, the distinction between prevention and mitigation of potential impacts versus corrective measures and remediation for actual impacts, and the strictly sequenced "last resort" measures that apply where impacts cannot otherwise be resolved.
- Enforcement and next steps: the maximum penalties of 3% of net worldwide turnover, and a practical roadmap for using the period to the 26 July 2029 application date to confirm scope, map supply chain exposure, and conduct a gap analysis against governance, risk assessment, remediation, stakeholder engagement, complaints handling, monitoring and reporting requirements.
Key takeaways
Whether or not your company meets the CSDDD thresholds, the Directive will shape how due diligence, supply chain risk management and human rights compliance operate across the EU and beyond. Suppliers, distributors and other business partners of in-scope companies should anticipate targeted information requests and should prepare accordingly. This video also situates the CSDDD within the broader landscape of overlapping regimes, including the EU Deforestation Regulation, the EU Batteries Regulation, the EU Forced Labour Regulation and the UK Modern Slavery Act statutory guidance, and explains why an integrated, strategic approach to compliance can help avoid duplicated effort and wasted cost.
Watch now to understand the practical implications of the Omnibus amendments for your organisation's corporate sustainability due diligence, supply chain risk management and ESG compliance strategy, and to learn how to prepare ahead of the CSDDD's phased application.
For tailored advice on CSDDD compliance, supply chain due diligence or wider sustainability regulation, please get in touch with our Responsible Business team.
