Ensuring your suppliers satisfy ESG standards
Supply chains pose unique and rapidly evolving risks and challenges for corporates - in addition to the prospect of reputational damage, a changing legislative landscape in the UK and abroad means that civil, criminal or regulatory liabilities may also be triggered.
The UK Government has committed to extending corporate criminal liability to organisations that fail to prevent fraud by persons acting on their behalf domestically and overseas, which includes one's suppliers. UK corporates must already be carrying out adequate procedures to demonstrate their commitment to prevent bribery and tax evasion in their supply chains. In the EU, legislation is shifting to impose further mandatory due diligence and reporting requirements on corporates in relation to human rights abuses and environmental harms in their supply chains. These increasingly onerous responsibilities imposed by new EU Directives will be felt by UK organisations with existing contractual relationships in the EU.
Managing the risks that arise from a shifting legislative landscape coupled with increasing stakeholder demands for transparent and ethical supply chains requires cutting edge advice from specialists across disciplines.
How can we support?
We support and guide you on the formation and management of your supplier relationships to help meet your legal responsibilities and ESG goals.
We kick off by carrying out an assessment of your organisation's ESG risks and potential supply chain liabilities. We review your corporate strategies, operational practices, and implementation mechanisms, and assess these in line with legal and regulatory obligations as well as best practice standards.
We then move onto support you to assess potential suppliers, onboard new suppliers and manage each the performance of your suppliers:
