2026
 

• In "Corporate sustainability and contractual obligations imposed on Swiss SMEs: what can be done to level the playing field?," a legal analysis published by CMS Law Now Switzerland, author Tania Luminuku, Senior Associate, examines how evolving EU and Swiss sustainability regulations are reshaping sustainability duties expected of Swiss companies, and how responsible contracting can be used to balance human rights and environmental due diligence (HREDD) requirements between buyers and suppliers.
  
  The post highlights RCP and its collaborators as a key source in its legal analysis, referring to the Investor Guidance on Responsible Contracting, the Responsible Investor Model Clauses (RMC),  and the European Model Clauses (EMCs). The post explains how contracts transform non-binding sustainability policies into enforceable obligations and why traditional, one-sided contractual obligations often unfairly shift risk onto SMEs. The post recommends that SMEs may instead "seek to negotiate more balanced terms during contract negotiations through responsible contracting."
   

2025
 

• The third edition of the Responsible Purchasing Barometer [French], published by ORSE, Bpifrance, and PwC France and Maghreb, recommends principles of responsible contracting as a transformational lever for buyers to improve their social and environmental performance. The guide, aimed at buyers in the French and European context, identifies nine transformational levers for better procurement practices.RCP Director Sarah Dadush was consulted on the development of Lever 4: “Shift from 'risk cascading' to 'risk sharing'," which describes responsible contracting principles, including a shared commitment to HREDD, remediation first, and responsible exit as a last resort.
  
  Dadush is quoted as an expert voice in the guide, explaining that “contracts can become true foundations for establishing a more transparent relationship based on trust and collaboration between buyers and suppliers.” The guide is currently available, with an English translation planned for future release.
   

• A peer-reviewed article in Uniform Law Review, "Sustainability due diligence in international sales contracts: insights from the CISG," examines how sustainability due diligence obligations can be operationalized through international sales contracts governed by the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). The article cites the MCCs and the EMCs as evidence that international sales contracts can serve as powerful tools for promoting sustainable production across the supply chain. The article also cites RCP as an example of a private initiative drafting model sustainability due diligence clauses to help streamline compliance. October 2025.
   

• Review of the Effects of the Norwegian Transparency Act [PDF], an official report commissioned by the Norwegian government on the early impacts of the Norwegian Transparency Act, highlights RCP’s work. The Transparency Act, in force since 2022, requires enterprises to respect fundamental human rights and decent working conditions throughout the production of goods and delivery of services. In assessing the law’s impact on SMEs not directly covered by the Act, the report cites RCP’s efforts to promote cost-sharing in contracts between buyers and suppliers, ensuring due diligence responsibilities are shared rather than shifted downstream. The report notes: “Shared responsibility is advantageous and more realistic, as opposed to direct transfer of obligations to subcontractors and guarantees of compliance.”
   

• The Handbook for Due Diligence Implementation in the Textile Sector, a guide developed by Policy Hub, the Social and Labor Convergence Program, Fair Wear Foundation, and amfori to support the EU CSDDD, highlights RCP in its section on voluntary contract model clauses, pointing to the Model Contract Clauses 2.0 (MCCs) and the European Model Clauses (EMCs) as templates of contractual clauses that do not pass on responsibility for HREDD from buyer to supplier and include obligations for buyers, such as responsible purchasing practices and collaboration in HREDD.
   

• The RPP Revolution: How Responsible Purchasing Drives Higher Wages in Apparel [PDF], a 2025 report published by IDH, features the RCP Toolkit's Buyer Code as a template for companies seeking to embed “fair contracting and pricing terms.” [Link not available]
   

• Paving the Way for Sustainable Supply Chains: Highlights of the Initiative for Global Solidarity (IGS) [PDF], the 2025 annual program review of IGS, showcases the Supplier Model Contract Clauses 1.0 (SMCs) and features an in-depth interview with RCP Director Sarah Dadush.
   

• No Country Is Immune [PDF], a 2025 report by the Global Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, features the RCP Toolkit as a solution to address forced labor in global supply chains.

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2024

• The Supplier Model Contract Clauses 1.0 (SMCs) are cited in the OECD’s 2024 Handbook on Due Diligence for Enabling Living Incomes and Living Wages in Agriculture, Garment, and Footwear Supply Chains as an example of how to embed living income policies into companies’ policies and management systems.
   

• THIRST, an independent charity working collaboratively to transform the tea industry, features the Tea Sector Model Clauses (TMCs) in its free Knowledge Hub.
   

• Modern Slavery & Remediation: An Investor's Guide [PDF], co-authored by Walk Free and the First Sentier MUFG Sustainable Investment Institute, cites the Investor Guidance on Responsible Contracting in a recommendation to investors that they "suggest that companies commit to responsible purchasing practices with their suppliers... and prioritise human rights remediation over traditional contract remedies in their supplier contracts." October 2024.
   

• Towards New Human Rights and Environment Due Diligence Laws: Reflections on Changes in Corporate Practice [PDF],  a report published by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law [BICCL], highlights RCP's model clauses and shared approach to integrating HREDD into contracts, as well as its Policy Brief, "What the CSDDD Says About Contracts." October 2024.
   

• Setting Higher Standards: How Governments Can Regulate Corporate Human Rights Performance [PDF], guidance from NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights to governments and companies on how to maximize the effectiveness of business and human rights legislation, mentions RCP as a useful resource for governments developing guidance on fair treatment of suppliers. October 2024.
   

• An Apparel Supplier’s Guide 2.0 Key Sustainability Legislation in the EU, US, and UK,  a policy guidebook authored by the Remedy Project, references RCP as an example of an initiative working on shared responsibility and responsibility purchasing practices in its Trend 1: Recommendations. Specifically, the guide notes that industry bodies and supplier groups advocating for contracts and codes of conduct should reflect the EU CSDDD’s expectation of fairness and shared responsibility.
   

• Assessing Responsible Purchasing Practices: An Overview of Approaches and Tools [PDF] , an analysis of frameworks and tools for companies wanting to improve their purchasing practices by Solidaridad, includes an in-depth section on RCP's work and approach, as well as a closer look at the Supplier Model Contract Clauses 1.0 (SMCs).
   

• In its thematic report, Investors, Environmental, Social and Governance Approaches and Human Rights: Report of the Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises [PDF], the United Nations Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises mentions the Investor Guidance on Responsible Contracting as an example of guidance on how investors can fulfill their responsibility to respect human rights.
   

2023

• [Report] Engagement, Remedy & Justice: Priorities for the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive from workers in the Global South, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, May 2023.
   

• [Report] Rana Plaza Ten Years On: Lessons for Human Rights and Business, The Institute for Human Rights and Business, April 2023.
   

• [PDF Toolkit] Adaption of the Model Contract Clauses To Protect Workers In International Supply Chains, The Mekong Club, March 2023.
   

• [Report] Respect & Protect: The State of Corporate Human Rights Due Diligence in Canada, BMO Global Asset Management, February 2023.