The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive

Ludovica Chiussi Curzi (PhD) is Associate Professor of International Law at the University of Bologna, Department of Legal Studies, and Lead Trainer of the Course “Human Rights and the Environment” at the Geneva Academy for International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. She has been Visiting Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge (UK), at the Columbia Centre for Sustainable Investment, Columbia University (New York) and at Sciences Po Law School (Paris). Ludovica is Expert to the Office of the State Attorney of the Republic of Italy in cases before the European Court of Human Rights, as well as in Investor-State arbitration. She regularly works as counsel before international courts and tribunals, including the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.

Leonie Evans, German attorney since 2012, is a Partner at Meisterernst Rechtsanwälte, a Munich based mid-size law firm. Working for national and international businesses with a focus on consumer goods and ESG matters, she advises on risk management in the value chain and all issues on national and international sustainability legislation. She is an active member of the Committee for Sustainability of Pharma Deutschland, ESG working group of BVMed and Sustainability work group of Food Federation Germany.

Johannes Frank is a partner at Schoenherr Attorneys at law in Vienna, Austria. He specialises in complex national and cross-border merger control cases, antitrust proceedings and compliance, internal investigations and foreign direct investment cases. He also focuses on the impact of supply chain compliance laws on Austrian companies and companies along the value chains.

Franziska Humbert studied law in Heidelberg, London, Bern and Berlin. She did her PhD at the World Trade Institute of the University of Bern on the topic ‘The Challenge of Child Labour in International Law’ and her post-doctoral thesis in 2021 on the topic of world trade and constitutionalism in international law. From 2001 to 2003, she had been working in a law firm in the field of labour, media and competition law. Since 2004, she has been working for the international non-governmental organisation Oxfam in the field of business and human rights, including on legislation such as the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act and the EUCSDDD. She is Head of Just Economies in Oxfam Germany. An increasing focus of her work is also conducting strategic litigation, such as filing complaints for partner organisations from the Global South. She conducts research on human rights in value chains, publishes studies and works with business and political decision-makers. She has taught international economic law at the University of Zurich and has held lectures on business and human rights at the University of Lüneburg and the University of Halle.

Harald Küppers is a political scientist and has worked for many years for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and its predecessor organisation, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). He is currently the Programme Manager of the ‘Sector Dialogues Business and Human Rights’. Sector dialogues bring together business, civil society, the social partners and policymakers to ensure fairness in global supply and value chains. They are based on the National Action Plan (NAP), which implements the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and can help fulfil the requirements of the German Supply Chain Act (LkSG) and the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).

Michael Lendle, PhD, is a board member of AFC Consulting Group in Germany and advises manufacturers and retailers, state and federal government agencies, and trade associations on compliance management, sustainability strategies, and stakeholder communications.

Rosalynn Lützenkirchen is an attorney at the law firm Meisterernst Rechtsanwälte in Munich. She specialises in advising national and international companies on all aspects of German and European consumer goods law. As a certified human rights officer, she also advises companies on the implementation of and compliance with their human rights and environmental due diligence obligations throughout their entire supply chain.

Andreas Meisterernst, Meisterernst Rechtsanwälte (law firm), Honorary Professor at the TUM School of Life Sciences, primarily advises and represents national and international companies from the consumer goods industry with regard to the entire regulatory framework. He advises on internal risk management and corporate social responsibility in the value chain including EU and national sustainability legislation and stakeholder issues.

Elena Todorova is a Counsel at Schoenherr Attorneys at Law in Sophie, Bulgaria, specialising in Healthcare and Life Sciences and navigating the maze of EU and Bulgarian legislation. She focuses on the regulatory areas of the food and pharma supply chains and waste management.

Theresa Usler already specialized in sustainability management during her studies in Münster (M. Sc.). She is a Senior Consultant at AFC Risk & Crisis Consult in Germany and advises companies from industry and commerce in the areas of risk and crisis management as well as sustainability communication.

Gregor Wolf holds a master’s degrees in economics and Japanese Studies and studied in Berlin and Tokyo. He started his career with the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA) in Berlin and is now the Director General of the Wholesale and Foreign Trade Association Hamburg (WGA). He closely followed and engaged also in the process of developing the German German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG).

Marjan de Bock-Smit is a risk management professional and has always been at the forefront of developments in the fast-changing international consumer goods markets. In 1993, she founded Précon Food Safety Systems, that became market leader in the implementation of risk management systems (HACCP) for the food and retail sector. Her next company was ISACert, an accredited Certification Body with 300 auditors, represented in 16 countries, including China. She supported the development of several audit standards and started specialising in social compliance and human rights. With her knowledge and insights of international supply chain practices, Marjan founded Supply Chain Information Management (SIM) in 2009 to help retailers and brands creating transparency in their supply chains. In 2020 she co-founded ImpactBuying, developing consultancy and training products for helping clients to move from compliancy towards ensuring Proven Positive Impact. In 2021, the product portfolio of SIM and ImpactBuying merged into ImpactBuying bv. Marjan is a dedicated social entrepreneur, determined to make a difference.