Cor­por­ate Sustain­ability and Risk-Based Due Di­li­gence

Course content

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.