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Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the fight of the century – the battle of our lives – here in the sold-out EU arena in Brussels.
In this corner, wearing a confident look that only money can buy, big business bosses seeking to maximize profits.
And in the other corner, wearing a determined if exasperated expression, a rag-tag coalition of people wanting to live on a habitable planet.
OK, sorry, that’s a bit dramatic – and full of terrible clichés besides. But it’s actually not too far off what’s happening in the European capital these days.
Industry groups from Europe and the US are trying to weaken the European Union’s flagship corporate accountability law and its measures tackling climate change.
The 2024 EU law is called the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. It requires large companies operating in the EU to identify and address human rights and environmental harms in their operations and supply chains.
The climate provisions of the Directive require companies covered by the law to adopt and put into effect a “transition plan for climate change mitigation” in line with the Paris Agreement. That is, it has to be consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
As a quick reminder: burning fossil fuels is the primary driver of global warming. It accounts for about two thirds of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. The production of fossil fuels is also linked to severe human rights and environmental harms, including toxic air, unsafe water, and polluted ecosystems.
European and US fossil fuel companies have particularly targeted these climate provisions in the law.
Lobbying by European and US companies and groups, including the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU, has heavily influenced the European Commission’s “Omnibus proposal” to substantially weaken key points of the law that would make it harder for victims of rights abuses to sue companies.
On June 27, ExxonMobil Chief Executive Darren Woods asked US President Donald Trump to address the law as part of trade negotiations with the EU. ExxonMobil has met with senior European Commission officials at least five times since the beginning of 2025 to discuss the law or related topics.
So, here we all are: the fight of the century. The next round of the bout will take place in the European Parliament, where the fate of the EU’s corporate accountability law now rests.
Will parliamentarians succumb to lobbying by powerful industries?
Or will they fight for a law that requires companies to take robust action against climate change and that holds corporations to account for human rights and environmental abuses worldwide?
Stay tuned…
