Specifically, work on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the associated EU reporting standards (European Sustainability Reporting Standards, ESRS) is progressing.
It is currently becoming apparent that the reporting obligation will come into force one year later than foreseen in the current CSRD proposal. This means that companies will have to publish sustainability information for the first time in 2025 for the financial year 2024. Other aspects of the CSRD, such as the location of sustainability information, are currently being discussed at EU level. It remains exciting – and we will keep you up to date!
First insights into the published work of the so-called EFRAG Project Task Force on the European Reporting Standards show that the information to be reported will presumably be based on well-known frameworks. These are, in particular, the GRI standards and, for the topic of climate, the recommendations of the TCFD and the GHG Protocol. You should therefore use the coming period to prepare for the reporting obligation on the basis of these frameworks and standards and to collect the necessary information. We will be happy to support you in this!
You can find out whether you are likely to be affected by the reporting obligation in our “quick check” on the Arqum homepage (in German).
If you would like to stay up to date on this topic, we will be happy to send you our sustainability news on a regular basis. In addition, we will soon be launching a webinar series on the topic of sustainability management and reporting. If you are interested, please sign up for the mailing list here.
And last but not least: We at Arqum have also contributed proposals to the CSRD process and, together with the IÖW and the Fair Finance Institute, have written the study “Recommendations for the design of sustainability reporting standards in the context of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)” on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency. In it, we address the topic of climate neutrality in the context of reporting. You can find the publication here.
Contact at Arqum: Theresa Steyrer