As Europe emerges from a devastating heat wave, the European Parliament should reject efforts, including by industry groups in the United States, to weaken the European Union's flagship corporate accountability law and its measures to tackle climate change.

The 2024 EU law, called the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, requires large companies operating in the EU to identify and address human rights and environmental harms in their operations and supply chains.

Unfortunately, lobbying by European and US companies, including the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU, has heavily influenced the European Commission's "Omnibus proposal," which would substantially weaken key provisions of the law, making it harder for victims of rights abuses to sue companies.

European and US fossil fuel companies have particularly targeted the law's climate provisions, which require companies covered by the law to adopt and put into effect a "transition plan for climate change mitigation" consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, in line with the Paris Agreement.

On June 27, ExxonMobil Chief Executive Darren Woods asked 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.

EU member states have proposed diluting the requirement for companies to "put into effect" climate mitigation plans, instead proposing only that companies adopt a plan setting out "reasonable efforts" to tackle global warming.

Burning fossil fuels is the primary driver of the climate crisis, accounting for about two-thirds of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. The production of fossil fuels is linked to severe human rights and environmental harms, including toxic air, unsafe water, and polluted ecosystems.

The fate of the EU's corporate accountability law now rests with the European Parliament. Instead of succumbing to lobbying by powerful industries, parliamentarians should 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.

Source: Human Rights Watch