Companies, human rights and environmental standard: new EU initiatives

Sustainability Lunchtime Seminars: Where Environmental Law Meets Economic Law

Speakers

Maître Karima Hammouche, Bar of Luxembourg, Etude Hammouche, European Environmental Bureau
Maître Anne Jonlet, Brussels representative for AVOCATS.BE and the Bar of Luxembourg

Abstract

In the context of climate change, globalised neoliberal capitalism - which dominates social relations in Europe and many other States - is increasingly being challenged. The pursuit of immediate profit maximisation for business owners alone is under attack from those who want to ensure the long-term survival of economic activity and the environment in which business operates. Sustainable development is now a goal that companies can no longer ignore. National and international jurisdictions are becoming increasingly bold in enshrining corporate responsibility but the current international standards and legislative frameworks are insufficient to achieve sustainability. It is in this context that the European Commission has published in February 2022 a proposal for a directive on corporate sustainability due diligence. This context and the content of the proposed European directive will be presented to you on 19 October 2022.

Biographies

Karima is a member of the Luxembourg Bar and a founding partner of the law firm HAMMOUCHE. She specialises in national and international litigation, with a particular focus on environmental disputes, insolvency law and family law. Karima is very active in the environmental field. She is a member of the EEB (European Environmental Bureau)/Working Group on Law and is the appointed expert of the Luxembourg Bar in the CCBE (Council of European Bars) Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility. She is editor-in-chief of the law review Jurisnews Droit de l'Environnement.

Anne has been a member of the Brussels Bar since 1992 and was a member of the Frankfurt Bar from 1996 to 2007. After 15 years of practicing Belgian, German and European business law, she was entrusted as a representative by the French-and German-speaking Bars of Belgium (AVOCATS.BE) and the Luxembourg Bar in connection with the opening of a joint liaison office with the European institutions. Since 2020 she is in charge of the sustainable development commission of AVOCATS.BE and, since 2022, she accompanies AVOCATS.BE in its UNITAR certification process in sustainable entrepreneurship.

Registration

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