In her introductory remarks, SCCL Director Sara Göthlin highlighted the ”Tragedy of the Horizon”; a concept framing climate change as a problem that is still systematically underestimated by markets and regulators due to its long-term nature.
Jonas Ebbesson, professor at Stockholms universitet, opened the discussion by defining the core of transboundary corporate responsibility and highlighting three legal dimensions; substance, procedure and subjectivity. Ebbesson offered an overview of international instruments, as well as examples of how corporations might be held accountable in cross-border court cases.
Hennie Strydom, professor of international law at the University of Johannesburg, provided critical insights into the environmental compliance deficit in the African region. Strydom highlighted, among other things, the concept of ”isomorphic mimicry”, which signifies the practice of adopting the forms of successful institutions, but without their underlying functionality. This gap was identified as a severe obstacle to cross-border cooperation on sustainable business practices.
Dr Lisa Hsin, senior lecturer at the University of Surrey, discussed common law approaches to sustainability and value chain regulation. As she observed, the law’s “separateness” – meaning that each legal entity typically is treated in isolation for (e.g.) liability purposes – collides with the reality of operational integration across value chains and networks. Having studied corporate sustainability disclosures, one of the topics raised by Dr Hsin was whether such reports could provide legal support for claims raised by civil society.
Dr Kelly Chen, senior lecturer at Södertörns högskola, analysed regulatory lessons from the EU. Drawing on her experience as visiting fellow at the Financial Law Institute at Ghent University, she explained the theoretical and substantive challenges and development phases of the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.
Dr Fredrik Sandberg, research fellow at the SCCL, explored how traditional European tort law applies to transboundary corporate harm. Sandberg especially identified elements of the law on damages that diverge between European jurisdictions, and where the CS3D and other instruments designed to harmonise accountability will still be applied with great variety in substance.
The seminar concluded with a panel discussion moderated by Dr Stina Bratt. While there are serious challenges to the idea of law as a means to address environmental, social or governance issues, the global legal community remains a vital space for the collaboration and creativity needed to align commercial logic with a sustainable path for humanity.
