The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive: Legal Character, Enforcement Challenges, and Global Policy Implications

The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) adopted by the European Union marks one of the milestones in the history of regulation in the context of human rights and environmental actors in corporate governance. This paper will provide a critical legal and policy assessment of the Directive and how it is able to meet its systemic risks associated with corporate operations and global supply chains. This is done by analysing the legal character of the Directive and the way it is to be enforced, and its compliance with internationally recognized norms, including the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which concerns whether the CSDDD offers a sound, enforceable mandatory due diligence framework. It also examines possible obstacles such as jurisdictional restrictions, the cost of compliance by small and medium‑sized enterprises, and the danger of regulatory fragmentation in the EU and in foreign markets. Based on the comparative approach, the paper has placed the Directive within the wider global trends in corporate accountability legislation and singled out best practices in the implementation of the Directive. The results indicate the transformative power as well as scope of practicability of the Directive and are therefore a provider of policy prescription in enhancing its enforcement, transparency of corporations, and making sustainability expectations to bring visible results of human rights and environmental impact.