LENA PELEIKIS
Corporate Responsibility Lead Human Rights & Responsible Supply Chain at Otto Group
“Issues like human rights and climate protection are not negotiable”
The Otto Group is one of the world’s largest online retailers, having grown from its origins as a Hamburg-based mailorder business into a globally active retail and services group. In the ’90s, the Otto Group started developing a code of conduct with stringent criteria for social standards and dignified working conditions that its business partners are required to follow, and it has continued to refine and expand on this approach. Lena Peleikis, the lead for human rights and responsible supply chain at the Otto Group, believes that standards like CmiA and GCS are essential, especially as regulatory requirements increase, since they strengthen human rights and environmental protections in the global supply chain.
Ms Peleikis, the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament are about to adopt the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).¹ It goes beyond the German law on due diligence in the supply chain, applying to more businesses and imposing civil liability on companies. The CSDDD is expected to be enacted into national law within two years. Is the Otto Group ready?
The CSDDD represents a key step towards harmonising and strengthening human rights and environmental standards in global supply chains. At the Otto Group, we welcome this because we are convinced that adopting sustainable business practices is not only an ethical imperative but also makes sound economic sense. Naturally, we are also aware that the CSDDD will impose additional obligations with implications we cannot yet fully comprehend, for example with regard to the crucial issue of liability.
We have already had due diligence measures in place throughout our supply chain for years. When the German due diligence law came into effect, we intensified these efforts by bringing a diverse range of expertise and perspectives together within a new groupwide team. It is a priority for us to include as many qualified colleagues as possible in the team and to incorporate their findings into our core processes.
We hear many companies complaining about calls for transparency coming from politicians, consumers, employees, and banks. How does the Otto Group see this? Is due diligence an opportunity or a risk?
Recent macroeconomic developments have indeed been very challenging for many companies, and the Otto Group’s position is somewhat fraught as well. Nonetheless, we believe that this is the right time to implement due diligence because issues like human rights and climate protection are not negotiable and cannot be delayed. We always remind ourselves to see due diligence as a process, not a project; this takes some of the pressure off in potential moments of excessive demands.
Can standards like CmiA and GCS help with meeting the new requirements, and do you think that other approaches are necessary as well?
For us, the first step and the basis for meeting our corporate duty for due diligence is definitely risk analysis. To address the major risks we face, we need to understand precisely what they are. Sectoral initiatives and standards are crucial for monitoring and strengthening human rights and environmental protections in global supply chains, playing a key role in risk reduction.
How do you communicate this wealth of information internally and externally?
It is indeed challenging not to overwhelm our customers and the interested public with a flood of information. We nonetheless focus on transparency in our communication, not only at the product level but also but also on our website, which features a broad spectrum of relevant information, including all reports published by companies in our group within the scope of the German due diligence supply chain law. For internal and external interested parties, we also publish training videos that address human rights due diligence issues in greater depth.
¹ The CSDDD was adopted in early 2024.
LENA PELEIKIS
Corporate Responsibility Lead Human Rights & Responsible Supply Chain at Otto Group
“Issues like human rights and climate protection are not negotiable”