Ramboll Examines Human Rights Due Diligence in Supply Chains

Legal requirements and consumer ESG expectations are prompting companies to publicly affirm their commitment to upholding human rights.

While declarations are plentiful, executing such commitments within vast and intricate supply chains often presents a challenge.

Ramboll's whitepaper, Human rights due diligence inaction: The tangible business risk from doing nothing, offers insights into how corporations can effectively take responsibility for their supply chains.

Patrick Moloney, Global Director and Lead for Sustainability Consulting and ESG at Ramboll, states: "In today’s regulatory, social and investment landscape, neither moral intent nor technical execution alone is sufficient. Companies are increasingly judged not just by what they say, but by how they operationalise their stated values, particularly when navigating complexity, controversy or uncertainty.”

Why corporate responsibility matters

Carrying out human rights due diligence systematically is vital to fostering resilient governance frameworks.

Such efforts aid in predicting disruption, maintaining stakeholder trust and safeguarding brand value.

As indicated in Ramboll’s whitepaper: “Most companies, at least on paper, agree. Yet, when it comes to putting these values into practice, particularly when it comes to human rights, many still treat it as optional.”

Regulatory advancements and mounting stakeholder expectations have made oversight conspicuous.

However, global geopolitical and regulatory shifts—such as the EU Simplification Omnibus and DEI backlash in the U.S.—have left compliance in a state of inertia.

“In this vacuum, too many companies are mistaking uncertainty for a reason to delay,” the whitepaper comments.

Despite numerous influential companies endorsing human rights policies, only 20% have initiated the processes to operationalise human rights due diligence, based on the World Benchmarking Alliance’s 2024 Social Benchmark.

The cost of inaction

The repercussions of inaction on human rights are covered extensively in Ramboll’s whitepaper.

Modern social media facilitates rapid information dissemination, which means reputational harm can escalate swiftly, resulting in a rapid erosion of brand trust.

Financial implications arise from capital access constraints, as investors no longer view human rights issues as peripheral.

ESG analysts and asset managers rigorously evaluate corporate handling of human rights issues, with weak performance considered indicative of potentially broader management issues and future liabilities.

Additional risks are linked to talent acquisition and organisational culture; sidelining human rights commitments may imply optionality in corporate values to employees.

Moreover, unsafe working conditions or environmental abuses within supply chains can have far-reaching effects.

Although the EU CSDDD is perhaps the most prominent regulatory approach, it is not the only one.

Tereza Kramlova, Senior Advisor at Ramboll, notes: “Too many companies shy away from human rights due diligence because it might reveal risks they would rather not face.

"But that is precisely the point. Human rights due diligence is not about being perfect from the very beginning; it is about being accountable and adaptive. It is a continuous cycle, not a one-off fix, and it must evolve alongside the operational realities it is meant to address.”

What does strategic human rights due diligence look like?

In the absence of a universal checklist, Ramboll’s whitepaper suggests that the UNGPs and OECD Guidelines underpin good practice. To foster effective due diligence, five key steps are advocated:

• Recognise risks and act upon them
• Ensure accountability in critical areas
• Engage with affected stakeholders
• Integrate measures across the organisation
• Address, rectify, and report on issues.

The whitepaper emphasises: “Doing it right does not mean perfection. It means being accountable, context-aware and willing to adapt.”