The climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues humanity faces today. The world is already grappling with the devastating impacts of global warming, encompassing extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and the displacement of millions of people from their homes. The Paris Agreement, an international accord aimed at addressing the climate crisis, commits states to reduce
emissions as well as reporting and monitoring their progress. Notably, the Paris Agreement and other international environmental and climate conventions currently do not extend to corporations and non-state entities, even though they are responsible for most of a country’s emissions.

A new report released today by ECCJ and a broad coalition of civil society organisations led by CAN Europe and Friends of the Earth Europe, reveals that at least 107 out of 425 of the world’s biggest fossil fuel extraction projects are operated by EU-based companies such as Total Energies, Shell, RWE, and ENI or financed by major European banks. The report sets out the case for legally binding climate reduction targets for companies and their enablers, the EU’s financial sector, in the EU due diligence law (CSDDD).

The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive has the potential to defuse these gigantic fossil fuel expansion projects and transform the way fossil fuel corporations conduct business. It marks a crucial step against corporate misconduct and fits into a larger legislative framework aiming to reach the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality goal. The directive has now entered high-stakes trilogue negotiations. The EU Parliament’s progressive stance on climate obligations – including a duty for large EU-based corporations to write and implement climate transition plans for the 1.5°C target – clashes with the Council’s intention to impose very little obligations and remove liability for contributing to the climate crisis.