Does the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive protect indigenous peoples’ right to food? Assessment and future prospects

Abstract

The paper seeks to assess whether, and to what extent, indigenous peoples’ rights – in particular, their right to adequate food – are protected by the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive 2024/1760, which identifies adverse human rights impacts with reference to a closed set of human rights provisions listed in its Annex. To this end, the paper discusses a number of relevant treaty provisions included in the Annex – in particular, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child – in light of the position of the competent UN treaty bodies. It concludes that the Directive already provides a high standard of protection for indigenous peoples, even though it does not make binding references to international instruments specifically enshrining indigenous peoples’ rights. This notwithstanding, it is advisable that EU Member States enlarge the scope ratione materiae of the Directive in the adaptation process, either by specifying that the human rights provisions listed in the Annex are not exhaustive, or by including further human rights instruments in it.