(This article was published on 1 August 2023 and updated on 27 September 2023)
Highlights
Companies in scope need to get ready now for enhanced sustainability reporting, as the European Commission (EC) has published the final text of its first set of twelve European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRSs)1. For the first wave of companies, disclosures will be required as early as the 2024 reporting period.
Companies will need to assess which topics to report using the double materiality concept, which requires information that is material from either a financial perspective or an impact perspective. Companies will also need to include information from their value chain.
It is important to engage now to understand the requirements of this first set of ESRSs and to assess how your company needs to adapt.
Key features of the final ESRSs
The ESRSs set out detailed reporting requirements for companies in the scope of the CSRD2. Two cross-cutting standards provide general reporting concepts and include overarching disclosure requirements including multiple datapoints. Ten topical standards complement these with detailed disclosure requirements across environmental, social and governance topics. Together, these twelve ESRSs require companies to provide information on:
- their governance and strategy to address material sustainability topics;
- the impacts, risks and opportunities arising from those topics; and
- quantitative metrics and targets.
Key features of the final ESRSs | |
Double materiality principles |
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Reporting across a broad range of topics |
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Governance |
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Reporting at the same time as the financial statements |
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Reporting on impacts, risks and opportunities across the value chain |
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Reporting on policies, action plans and targets |
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Assurance |
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For further detail on the ESRSs, see our high-level visual overview.
Key changes compared with prior versions
The proposed standards were exposed for comment at key stages over the past fifteen months. The basic principles have been retained – such as using double materiality principles and requiring reporting from across the value chain on a broad range of topics. However, the structure has changed to align more closely with the TCFD and some requirements have been simplified, removed or made voluntary compared with earlier versions.
Key changes compared with prior versions | |
Material and mandatory disclosures | Under the first set of ESRSs, only ESRS 2 General disclosures includes mandatory disclosure requirements. A list of mandatory disclosure requirements (i.e. disclosures not subject to materiality assessment) has been removed, in particular related to ESRS E1 Climate change and ESRS S1 Own workforce. They are now all subject to a materiality assessment. However, when companies conclude that ESRS E1 is not material, they will provide a detailed explanation of their conclusion. Financial companies need certain datapoints to meet disclosure requirements under other EU law, for example SFDR4. If companies conclude that such datapoints are not material, then they need to make an explicit statement for each datapoint. EFRAG3 is currently developing additional guidance on how companies can perform the double materiality assessment. |
Phase-in reliefs | To give companies, especially smaller companies, more time to implement the data collection and reporting processes, the first set of ESRSs introduces relief measures for one, two or three years. All companies, regardless of size, may opt out of disclosing the expected financial impacts related to risks from environmental issues for the first year of reporting. Companies can provide qualitative disclosure only on these financial impacts for a further two years. Additionally, certain disclosures related to own workforce (social protection, people with disabilities, work-related illnesses and work-life balance) can be omitted in the first year of reporting. Companies with less than 750 employees may also omit:
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Voluntary disclosure requirements | Some data points were labelled as voluntary in the drafts prepared by EFRAG. The EC has made additional disclosure requirements or data points voluntary, for example:
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Interoperability with international standard-setting initiatives
The CSRD requires the EC and EFRAG to take 'account, to the greatest extent possible, of the work of global standard-setting initiatives'. Both have worked with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to increase interoperability. A summary comparing the ESRSs to ISSBTM Standards is expected to be released in the coming months.
One of the main areas of concern flagged by many respondents to the EC’s recent consultation is that the definitions of financial materiality and other key definitions differ between ESRSs and ISSB Standards. While improvements have been made in the final text, companies applying ESRSs will not automatically meet all of the requirements in the ISSB Standards and will need to check carefully to identify any gaps between the two frameworks.
Next steps
Companies in scope need to get ready now for ESRS reporting. For the first wave of companies, this will be as early as the 2024 reporting period. You can use our high-level visual overview, which includes key questions to help you with your preparations.
See also our short guide outlining a five-step approach to getting ready for ESRSs.
1 The EU Parliament and the EU Council have a period of potentially up to four months to object. If they raise no objections, then the first set of ESRSs will apply for the first companies for the 2024 reporting period.
2 Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
3 European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, which is mandated by the European Commission responsible for developing ESRSs
4 The EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2019/2088)
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