Public Roundtable on Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD): New Trends Around the Globe

Public Roundtable 

on Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD): New Trends Around the Globe

Hosted by the FAU Chair of International Business, Society and Sustainability and the
FAU Center for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg (CHREN).

Date & Time: 29 September 2025, 18:30–20:00 (CET)

Venue: Lecture Hall, 4th floor, Andreij-Sacharow-Platz 1, 90403 Nürnberg

Participation: On-site. Online participation will be available through streaming of the session.

About the event

In the European Union (EU), there has been a trend towards adopting supply chain regulations aimed at reducing environmental and human rights impacts in global supply chains. However, in the context of geopolitical tensions and a heightened focus on competitiveness, the EU has recently backtracked on its commitments by diluting or delaying the implementation of legislation such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

While academic debates on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) have thoroughly examined policy-making processes in Europe, much less has been written about ongoing policy debates in other regions of the world, including countries in the Global South. However, the legitimacy and effectiveness of new rules governing transnational business will depend heavily on how they are received, interpreted and implemented in diverse production and consumption sites.

To reduce existing knowledge gaps, we are organizing this public roundtable, which will feature the active participation of business and human rights experts from Brazil, China, France, Germany/Kenya and Indonesia. The discussion will cover how policy debates on the regulation and governance of transnational business are unfolding in these countries, how diverse stakeholders and rightsholders in Asian, Latin American, and African contexts perceive and experience European mandatory HREDD rules, and which approaches could help transform our global political economy towards greater justice and environmental sustainability.

Leading business and human rights researchers with expertise on Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America will present their latest insights focusing on:

• The current state of human rights and environmental governance of global supply chains in different national and regional contexts
• Challenges and opportunities to deliver change by new mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) rules
• Bottom-up and alternative governance solutions contributing to "just sustainability"

Speakers

• Thales Cavalcanti –  Federal Prosecutor, Head of the Human Rights and Business Working Group at Brazilian Federal Prosecution Service (MPF), Brazil
• Caroline Lichuma, Ph.D – Postdoctoral Researcher, CHREN/FAU
• Anaïs Tobalagba, Ph.D -  Senior Legal Advisor, Beyond Human Rights Compliance
• Xu Kang – Doctoral Candidate, International Doctoral Programme on Business & Human Rights (IDP) & CHREN/FAU
• Kania Mezariani Guzaimi – Doctoral Candidate, International Doctoral Programme on Business & Human Rights (IDP) & CHREN/FAU

The Roundtable is convened by Prof. Dr. Almut Schilling-Vacaflor and Bruna Singh (FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg)

Registration

Please register your attendance (on-site or online) via the registration link:

https://forms.gle/rabYrR3znP3XAfLNA

We look forward to your participation and an inspiring discussion!