Even for the unpredictable world of business and human rights, 2024 was particularly volatile, including for sustainability more generally. The European Union’s (EU) Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) was poised for adoption, hit a snag, then finalized mid-year. The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) has led to double materiality assessments the world over, as companies are determining impacts, risks and opportunities and their significance from dual perspectives. New laws came online, others were adopted, others were adjusted, others stalled, and others face court challenges. Human rights are increasingly entrenched for companies as a business imperative, integrated into management systems and compliance programs at a pace accelerated by regulatory regimes with global impacts. All of this creates an embarrassment of riches, even more than 2021, 2022, 2023, or last year, as we perform our annual ritual of identifying 10 key business and human rights and sustainability issues for the upcoming year. Inspired by Human Rights Day, our top 10 business and human rights and sustainability topics for 2025 are below, in no particular order.

1.     Trump II
The second Trump Administration likely means a return to 2020 for business and human rights and sustainability in the U.S. Some laws, like the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, still will be enforced vigorously. Other longstanding bipartisan laws, such as the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, are unlikely to change. Repealing the climate-focused Inflation Reduction Act is not likely, but funding for some of its programs may wane.