Governing the security–sustainability nexus in Europe’s critical raw material supply chains: human rights and environmental due diligence

The accelerating demand for critical raw materials (CRM) has intensified tensions between supply security and socio-environmental sustainability, giving rise to a “security–sustainability nexus” in global supply chains. Mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence (HREDD) has been promoted as a key governance instrument to manage these tensions, yet there is limited empirical research on how companies construct compliance in practice, particularly across different stages of CRM supply chains.

The authors of this article examined how companies comply with mandatory HREDD and assessed whether these practices contribute to substantive sustainability outcomes. They did so through a qualitative analysis of nine companies subject to the French Duty of Vigilance Law (2017–2023), combining systematic coding of corporate vigilance plans and other primary documents with semi-structured interviews.

Their findings reveal significant variation in HREDD practices across supply chain stages, alongside systematic limitations. While some firms – particularly consumer-facing and extractive companies – have developed more elaborate systems, implementation remains largely procedural, with weak traceability, selective transparency, and limited attention to remedy. They argue that HREDD reconfigures rather than resolves the security–sustainability nexus.