Promoting responsible business conduct due diligence in public procurement: Cutting edge insights from academics, practitioners and policy makers

On the 30 May 2024 Sapiens Network, through our Early Stage Researcher Laura Treviño-Lozano and the OECD Centre for Responsible Business Conduct hosted an online about the link between responsible business conduct (RBC) due diligence and public procurement. The aim was to encourage debate about the ways in which RBC due diligence can be operationalised to prevent and address various adverse impacts that derive from public procurement. A topic that has been little explored so far and already a reality established in the adopted EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. Moderated by Lena Diesing (OECD), Sarah Reso (OECD) started the discussion with a presentation on the OECD’s research on the implications of RBC due diligence regulation on public procurement. Next, Laura Treviño-Lozano (Sapiens network) presented an open access research paper, co-authored with Ezgi Uysal (Sapiens Network), on establishing RBC due diligence as a contract performance condition under the EU Procurement Directive. Their presentations followed a roundtable discussion by experts and practitioners Zsofia Kerecsen (European Commission), Roberto Caranta (Sapiens Network), Carla Canal (Barcelona City Council) and Sophie Derksen (International Responsible Business Conduct Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands) on the importance, challenges and opportunities to integrate RBC due diligence in public procurement. This webinar is ideal for students, policymakers, and procurement practitioners aiming to learn from research and practice insights on responsible business conduct due diligence and public procurement.