Public Lecture: Dr. Alexandra Bögner (Basel University, CH) on the Politics of EU Due Diligence

Kula: Library Futures Academy is pleased to host a talk by Dr. Alexandra Bögner of the Sustainability Research Group at the University of Basel.

About the lecture:

The production of agricultural commodities such as coffee, cocoa, or palm oil is associated with persistent environmental and social harms, including deforestation, forced and child labor, and smallholder poverty. Transforming agri-food systems is thus a major challenge for sustainable development. The European Union is currently aiming to tackle these issues through various mandatory supply chain sustainability legislations, including due diligence regulations and import restrictions. Prominent examples include its Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR), which prohibits the import of deforestation-linked products, and its Forced Labour Regulation (FLR), which bans the placements of products made with forced labor on the EU market.

Both regulations were adopted by the EU with relatively broad support. However, their implementation continues to face challenges. The EUDR has faced strong lobbying to re-open the legislation and adapt requirements to avoid burdens on businesses; for the FLR, important questions on the details of implementation so far remain unresolved and need to be settled. In ongoing research on these regulations, we highlight how the politics surrounding due diligence regulations continue after their adoption, and how they might impact effective implementation that would meaningfully address the sustainability challenges the regulations are intended to address.