In recent years, the expectations on companies to adopt ESG-aligned policies and processes have been increasing under the growing demands from consumers, investors, case law as well as legislation. Law requiring ESG-reporting from companies are already in place in certain countries (such as the UK and Australia) as well as at the European-level (with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). In addition, mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation have been adopted in various countries (such as France, Germany, and Norway) and are being discussed in many others, whilst at the EU level, the Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (which is based on a study carried out for the European Commission in co-authorship with Professor Claire Bright, co-coordinator of this course) has just been adopted. Moreover, laws prohibiting products made with forced labour or child labour from being sold in a certain market already exist in the US and are being introduced in the EU with the recently adopted Forced Labour Regulation which will have implications for companies selling products in the EU market.

In order to respond to all of these requirements, and in line with international standards in the field (and in particular the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises), companies need to implement human rights and environmental due diligence processes. These processes allow companies to identify and address the negative impacts they may cause through their own activities, or the activities of their subsidiaries and of their business relationships, along their supply chains, and to report on these processes.

In this context, the NOVA Centre on Business, Human Rights and the Environment (NOVA BHRE) and the NOVA Green Lab, both knowledge centres of NOVA School of Law, have developed a course to enable participants to understand the evolving legal framework and to be able to adapt to theses new requirements for companies [including for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that want to have a competitive advantage in the current market] – to improve their risk management and value creation and become sustainability leaders, taking advantage of the opportunities that the new ESG regulations will provide.  The opening session of this e-course will be given by the former Secretary of State for Internationalisation, Bernardo Ivo Cruz.

Coordination

• Claire Bright, Associate Professor, NOVA School of Law and Founding Director of the NOVA Centre on Business, Human Rights and the Environment
• Lucila de Almeida, Abreu Chair in ESG Impact, NOVA School of Law and Director of the NOVA Green Lab

Speakers

Ana Santos Duarte 
Bernardo Ivo Cruz
Bruno Ferreira
Céline da Graça Pires
Guilherme Mata da Silva
Madalena Perestrelo de Oliveira 
Maria Folque
Rita Romão

Date

Wednesdays in September, October, and November 2024:

• Module ‘S’: 25/09/2024, 02/10/2024, e 09/10/2024; 16/10/2024
• Module ‘E’: 23/10/2024, 30/10/2024, 06/11/2024 e 13/11/2024
• Module ‘G’: 20/11 /2024 e 27/11/2024

Schedule

Wednesdays from 18.00pm to 20.00pm.

Target audience

The course is aimed at professionals, companies, judges, prosecutors, government representatives, NGO, and trade union representatives, as well as students, doctoral and post-doctoral researchers working in or interested in corporate sustainability and ESG.

Duration

A total of 20 hours of training on the topics related to ‘E’, ‘S’ and ‘G’, broken down as follows:

• Module ‘E’ (environment): 8h
• Module ‘S’ (social – human rights): 8h
• Module ‘G’ (governance): 4h

Teaching Method

Online. The sessions will be recorded and made available to the participants for 2 months after the training.

Language

Portuguese 

Aim of the course

This course aims to provide participants with an overview of the various requirements to align companies’ policies and practices to the growing ESG requirements. 

Fee

• Module ‘E’ = 400,00€
• Module ‘S’ = 400,00€
• Module ‘G’ = 290,00€

Total = €990.00*

* Participants can enrol in just one of the modules (E, S or G) or all three, with the total for those wishing to attend all three being €990.

Discounts**:

• Early Bird (until “one month before the course”): 841.50€ (15% off).
• 20% off for organisations enrolling 2-4 participants.
• 30% off for organisations enrolling 5 or more participants.
• Alumni NOVA School of Law: 891€ (10% off).

** The discounts apply only to those who enrol on the entire course (all three modules) and cannot be combined.