In the absence of a comprehensive international treaty regulating value chains, various voluntary and non-binding initiatives have emerged to promote corporate responsibility and sustainability. The EU has enacted several legislations that mandate corporate sustainability reporting, establish due diligence obligations, and integrate sustainability criteria into financial and industrial practices. These aim to enhance transparency, accountability, and environmental protection across corporate value chains, with growing attention to water-related impacts.

In the six national cases studied in this report, there is a lack of explicit regulatory framework that would comprehensively cover value chains, even though in many cases human rights and environment-related due diligence requirements also follow from other legislation. The lack of explicit regulatory framework is particularly relevant in relation to water-related value chains, which have not been subjected to specific legal or regulatory framework in any of the studied jurisdictions.

The French Vigilance Law is an exception as it establishes the legal framework for environment-related value chains and has often been singled out as a frontrunner in the field of value chain management. Despite the Vigilance Law’s innovative nature, realising water stewardship in value chains is nonetheless hindered by the following issues:

• The lack of definition of the Vigilance Law’s key terms, such as "the environment" and "human rights" as well as "risk" and "severe"
• The low number of companies that the vigilance duties apply to and the related problems of identifying these companies; and
• The "extremely high" burden of proof concerning e.g. damage and causality that falls on the claimant makes it difficult to guarantee effective remedies.

Future Analysis and Case Studies

In the next phases of GOVAQUA, a more detailed case analysis of the French Vigilance Law will be conducted. This analysis aims to further develop the understanding of how the Vigilance Law may support water stewardship in value chains, especially considering the lessons learned for transposing the Commission’s proposal for a Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence (CSDDD) into the legal systems of EU Member States.

Another innovative legal aspect relevant to water stewardship throughout a company’s value chain will be studied: the role that litigation may play in fostering sensitivity to water issues. In the UK, such litigation may be grounded in tort law, whereas in France, the Vigilance Law recognizes civil liability as a form of enforcement. Additionally, the CSDDD contains provisions on civil liability, and while it remains to be seen how these will be transposed into the domestic legal systems of EU Member States, litigation could become a significant legal technique for realizing water stewardship.

Finally, voluntary approaches will also be examined. For instance, in the UK, the 2030 Courtauld Water Roadmap applies to food and drink businesses and supports water stewardship. Similar voluntary, sometimes sector-specific, water stewardship initiatives also exist in Sweden and Finland. In Finland, such initiatives may build on recognizable international standards for water stewardship, including the Alliance for Water Stewardship’s International Water Stewardship Standard.