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The European Commission has presented its legislative proposal for a Directive as regards sustainability disclosures by certain companies.
The proposal presents several major improvements which are essential to help companies focus and report on meaningful information and channel finance to activities and projects needed to meet the objectives of the European Green Deal and make the European economy sustainable.
The most positive developments include:
The extension of the scope of the Directive to include all large companies...
A requirement to develop European generic and sector specific mandatory sustainability reporting standards...
Clarification of the main reporting areas and the categories of information that companies should disclose is specified in greater detail. The principle of “double materiality” is also clarified and properly enshrined in the draft proposal...
The proposal provides a clear mandate to report on plans to ensure the compatibility of company business models and strategies with the transition towards a sustainable economy and with the limiting of global warming to 1.5 °C in line with the Paris Agreement...
However, the proposal falls short on several important points, which significantly limit its desired impact:
Private companies, which don’t meet the threshold of a large undertaking, are left out of the scope of the proposed Directive in contradiction to the EU Parliament’sclear callfor the integration of all companies from high-risk sectors...
[T]he proposal fails to specify the essential aspects that EU standards need to address in particular with regard to reporting on human rights, including disclosure of salient human rights issues, key elements for supply chains disclosures, and quality criteria for KPIs...
[T]o ensure target setting is relevant and connected to the company’s impacts and risks, it is essential to specify that such targets must be linked to the outcomes of the company’s double materiality determination...
UNICEF’s new guidance briefs assist companies reporting under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) by offering insights on how to integrate children’s rights into assessments, disclosures, and reporting requirements, especially in areas such as child labor, community impacts, and protections for children as consumers.
Standardised sustainability disclosures under the CSRD are crucial for the EU's economic resilience and global leadership in sustainability, write Julia Otten and Susanna Arus of Frank Bold in Sustainable Views. Policymakers should maintain a strategic vision, focusing on long-term resilience rather than short-term expediency.
The European Commission has initiated infringement procedures against 17 EU member states for failing to meet the July 6, 2024 deadline to fully implement the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) into national law.
The agreement among EU co-legislators needs to be formally voted by the Council and EU Parliament, but is expected to be in place before the EU elections this year.
However, MEPs ensured that the Commission will strive to publish sector-specific sustainability reporting standards in eight areas as soon as they are ready before the deadline.
It of critical importance to address challenges and uncertainties currently faced by companies, as well as to ensure meaningful sustainability disclosures, the statement says.
A majority of 359 Members of the Parliament voted against a motion to reject the ESRS and its replacement with an emptied and diluted piece of legislation.
Germany is seeking to exempt thousands of Mittelstand companies from EU green reporting rules, in a move officials say risks “gutting” the bloc’s efforts to hold companies accountable for their impact on the environment.
Frank Bold calls on the Commission not to disregard the political agreement reached in 2022 on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
These Standards provide more detail on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive adopted last year, while also updating them to align with new international climate reporting standards issued in June.
Eurosif welcomes the standards covering all Environmental, Social and Governance topics. Concerns remain over making all disclosures subject to materiality assessment.
The endorsed statement was developed jointly by the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), the European Sustainable Investment Forum (Eurosif), the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), the PRI and the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI).
On 9 June, the European Commission published for public consultation a draft Delegated Act on the first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards.
Publication by the Danish Institute for Human Rights: "How do the pieces fit in the puzzle? Making sense of EU regulatory initiatives related to business and human rights"
The European Commission will now consult EU bodies and Member States on the draft standards,
before adopting the final standards as delegated acts in June 2023, followed by a scrutiny period by the European Parliament and Council.
Sustainability reporting experts and NGOs welcome the adoption of the EU sustainability reporting standards (ESRS) by EFRAG submitted this week to the European Commission. Whilst the ambition of the ESRS remains limited in several areas, they represent a major improvement for companies as well as for users of sustainability information and address the biggest problems in quality and reliability of corporate reporting.
MEPs voted today (November 10) to confirm the agreement reached earlier this summer to strengthen companies’ obligations to disclose information on their sustainability risks and impacts, and adopt mandatory EU standards covering ESG matters
The letter, signed by 37 organisations, calls on the European Commission to uphold the legal mandate agreed in the CSRD to develop and adopt an ambitious framework to improve and standardise corporate disclosure on sustainability matters
On Tuesday 21 June, the trilogue negotiations between the European Commission, Parliament and Council concluded with an agreement for the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive proposal will move to the final stage of the legislative process and enter trilogue negotiations between the EU Commission, European Parliament and the Council.
NGOs together with investors and asset managers call members of the European Parliament to broaden the scope of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) to ensure that all listed SMEs, as well as non-listed SMEs operating in high-risk sectors, are adequately incorporated in the legal framework.
The 12 signatories of this statement - who represent key users of corporate sustainability information - call on EU policymakers to promptly agree on the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive reform and support accompanying EU standards
Frank Bold's report calls on EU to strengthen Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive to effectively address barriers to supervision and enforcement of disclosure obligations introduced by EU NFRD
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre has signed an open letter alongside Wikirate, OAR and Clean Clothes Campaign, urging EU members of Parliament and the EU Commission to adopt and incorporate open data principles into the proposed Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
The authors argue that respect for human rights is not just an ESG factor, but a global standard of expected conduct for all companies, including institutional investors.
The proposal presents several major improvements which are essential to help companies focus and report on meaningful information and channel finance to activities and projects needed to meet the objectives of the European Green Deal. However, it falls short on several important points, which significantly limit its desired impact.
The recommendations can successfully guide the EU standard-setting process, and significantly advance the quality of corporate sustainability transparency, says the Alliance for Corporate Transparency.
The reports set out recommendations to the European Commission for the elaboration of possible EU sustainability reporting standards and for possible changes to EFRAG's governance and funding if it were to become the EU sustainability reporting standard setter.
To contribute to a meaningful EU process for the standardisation of reporting requirements in favour of comparable, concise and relevant disclosure, the members of the Alliance for Corporate Transparency have combined their expertise and aligned on key priorities for reform of the EU NFR Directive and development of possible future standards.