The Omnibus Proposal undermines Due Diligence and Indigenous Peoples’ rights
The European Commission’s Omnibus proposal presented on 26 February, marks a major setback for corporate accountability and sustainability. Developed through a rushed and opaque process, it prioritized business interests while sidelining Indigenous Peoples, other rightsholders, and affected communities. This undermines the EU’s credibility as a champion of democratic policymaking and excludes Indigenous Peoples’ voices despite the lasting impacts on their lands, rights, and livelihoods.
The proposal would weaken key provisions of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and EU Taxonomy Regulation, with severe potential consequences for Indigenous Peoples because the proposal would:
Restrict due diligence obligations to direct suppliers, allowing Indigenous Peoples’ rights violations to persist upstream in supply chains, where Indigenous communities are most at risk.
Delay the enforcement of corporate due diligence to 2028, extending the period during which Indigenous Peoples remain vulnerable to rights violations, land grabs, deforestation, and exploitation.
Remove thousands of companies from sustainability reporting requirements, reducing transparency and weakening Indigenous Peoples' communities’ ability to hold corporations accountable for harmful practices.
Dismantle Civil Liability Protections, limiting victims’ ability to seek justice, reinforcing corporate impunity, in a reality where victims already face immense procedural and legal hurdles when seeking remedy.
Weaken climate transition obligations and the EU Taxonomy framework, turning sustainability commitments into a mere checkbox exercise.
These rollbacks erode essential protections at a time when stronger safeguards are needed.
The European Union has positioned itself as a leader in human rights and climate action, but delaying its deforestation regulation has already weakened trust. The Omnibus proposal compounds this problem by undermining essential corporate accountability measures.
Over 54% of Energy Transition Minerals are located on or near Indigenous Peoples’ lands. The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act seeks to secure access to these resources for Europe’s green and digital transitions, thus making deregulation of corporate accountability particularly dangerous for Indigenous communities. The EU cannot claim to push for mining in the name of the green transition while simultaneously dismantling the accountability mechanisms that ensure those projects respect human rights and nature. At the same time, the EU is weakening its own Taxonomy Regulation, which was designed to ensure that investments contribute to climate and environmental action.
Without strong due diligence requirements, the green energy transition risks repeating the mistakes of the past, prioritizing profits over Indigenous Peoples’ rights, cultures, and well-being. Weakening these regulations will accelerate land grabs, forced displacement, and environmental destruction, as a result, deepening injustice rather than fostering a truly sustainable transition.
Strong due diligence laws provide the EU and European businesses with a competitive advantage. Companies that lead in ethical supply chains and sustainability are favored by investors, gain greater market access, consumer trust, and long-term economic resilience. The omnibus proposal would not simplify business, but rather create legal uncertainty, weaken corporate accountability, and ultimately disadvantage European businesses in the global market.
The proposal also contradicts the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel recommendations on Critical Energy Transition Minerals, which underlines that corporate accountability and Indigenous Peoples’ engagement are essential for a just transition.
The Omnibus package undermines Indigenous Peoples’ rights, climate action, and sustainability efforts. The European Parliament and Council must reject this rollback and uphold strong corporate accountability.
SIRGE Coalition calls on EU policymakers to:
Reject the Omnibus Proposal in its entirety, as it dismantles key corporate accountability mechanisms that were developed through democratic processes.
Uphold corporate accountability legislation by maintaining the integrity of the CSDDD, CSRD, and Taxonomy Regulations.
Preserve civil liability provisions, ensuring that victims of corporate harm have access to justice and remedy.
Ensure that Indigenous Peoples and affected communities are actively involved in both the legislative process and the substantive content of laws that impact their lands, lives and livelihoods, such as it is the case of the omnibus proposal, and that Indigenous Peoples’ rights are fully respected, in accordance with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), International Labour Organisation Convention 169 and others.