On 5 January 2023, the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) entered into force.

The CSRD is an EU “directive” (2022/2464) – a legislative act that sets out a goal that EU countries must achieve.

The CSRD supports the Union’s legal framework and the objectives of the EU Green Deal.

The EU Green Deal is the new growth strategy of the European Union, which aims to transform the Union into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy with no net emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) by 2050, while leaving no person and no place behind.

It will contribute to the EU objective of building an economy that works for the people, strengthening the Union’s social market economy, helping to ensure that it is ready for the future and that it delivers stability, jobs, growth and sustainable investment.

To succeed the Green Deal, it is necessary for the EU to reorient capital flows towards sustainable investment in order to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth, manage financial risks stemming from climate change, resource depletion, environmental degradation and social issues, and foster transparency and long-termism in financial and economic activity.

Disclosing relevant, comparable and reliable sustainability information amongst companies is a prerequisite for meeting those objectives.

The EU Commission was therefore empowered to adopt mandatory common sustainability reporting standards, to ensure that information was comparable, and that all relevant information was disclosed consistent with EU needs.

Building on the double materiality principle, the standards needed cover all information that is material to users of that information.

The development of mandatory common sustainability reporting standards was also necessary to

✔ Enable the assurance and digitalisation of sustainability reporting

✔ Facilitate its supervision and enforcement

✔ Reach a situation in which sustainability information has a status comparable to that of financial information

The adoption of such mandatory common sustainability reporting standards was completed by means of a delegated act on the first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) on 31 July 2023.

ESRS is now to be used for sustainability reporting by all undertakings subject to the CSRD.

These mandatory sustainability reporting standards (ESRS) specify the information that undertakings are to report in accordance with CSRD articles 19a and 29a-b.

🍃 ESRS is where sustainability meets company strategy and sets the stage for real transformation.

You will need CSRD-compliant and ESRS-ready sustainability strategy & reporting software to succeed.

➡ Contact us if you are interested in a one-month trial of the SaaS solution Cleerit ESG for 65 € per month and user.

The entire ESRS framework has been integrated and digitized to facilitate for you to create a best-in-class CSRD compliant sustainability report.

Yesterday (24/1) the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee approved a 2-year delay for sector-specific ESRS standards, until June 2026, including sustainability reporting from third-country companies.

This delay should enable the companies to focus on the implementation of the first set of general ESRS adopted on 31 July 2023, mandatory under CSRD.

It will also rationalise reporting obligations for companies, as well as provide the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) with more time to develop the new standards.

However, MEPs believe that sector-specific sustainability standards enable comparisons between companies and are therefore valuable source of information for investors.

That is why although they agree with the delay, they also suggest that the Commission publishes eight sector-specific reporting standards (specific to oil, energy and mining industries) as soon as they are ready before the deadline.

“We will delay the deadline for sector specific standards under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) by two years in order to give EFRAG the time to develop quality standards and give companies the time to put them into practice. Companies have been putting up with too much bureaucracy in years of crisis, from Covid to inflation.” (Rapporteur Axel Voss)

The proposal was made by the EU Commission in October, as part of its 2024 Commission Work Programme, which included reducing reporting burdens for companies as one of its priorities, and highlighted the postponement of the deadline for the adoption of sector-specific ESRS as one of the key actions listed.

Sector-specific European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) should clarify what exactly and to what detail should companies in particular sectors disclose about their impact on people and the planet, including on decarbonisation, biodiversity or human rights since methods and impacts differ depending on the sector.

Reporting obligations for non-EU companies with turnover above 150 million euro and their branches in the EU with turnover above 40 million euro will start to apply in 2028, based on the upcoming standards.

Source : Press release

#getCSRDready,  #CleeritESG

This has been said time and time again, but we want to insist again because we too often see managers make mistakes without necessarily understanding the consequences.

You own your DMA, it is your responsibility.

The proposed International Standard on Sustainability Assurance, ISSA 5000, explains that materiality is a user-driven concept, focused on the users of the information you will publish – your stakeholders.

A sustainability topic (including omissions of information on such topics), is considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, it could reasonably be expected to influence decisions of intended users taken on the basis of your information.

In other words, if I had known this, would it have influenced my decision to invest, purchase or work in your company…?
Your opinion is important, but it is secondary.

You have to put yourself in the shoes of those who finance your business, buy your products and services, get up every day to go to work for you…

In short, everyone who is affected by what you do – including nature, which is a silent stakeholder needing to be protected and spoken for.

Obligation to act vs. obligation to publish

The EU CSDDD will be an obligation to act – and a minimum safeguard to be able to claim to be aligned with the green taxonomy.
The CSRD and ESRS standards are an obligation to PUBLISH, not to act.

It is the transparency, for the benefit of your stakeholders, that is important. Your stakeholders will then be able to make informed decisions.

Not publishing detailed information about your specific negative impacts and risks connected to sustainability topics, as defined in the ESRS, will be as serious as deciding not to publish the Liabilities page of your balance sheet just because you don’t like to disclose that you have debts.

This information can no longer remain confidential for internal use – even, and especially, if it risks influencing your stock quote.
It’s that simple, and it’s going to take some getting used to. Just as we have become accustomed to publishing financial statements.

To avoid falling into traps, do not hesitate to contact us. The digital templates integrated into the Cleerit ESG solution will guide you, and we will be by your side throughout the process.

#getCSRDready, #CleeritESG

EFRAG has started working on a program that will lead to the issuance of approximately 40 Sector-specific ESRS Standards

The primary focus will be addressing high-impact sectors first.

Given the importance of financial institutions and their role in sustainable finance, these sectors will also be developed in parallel.

EFRAG will put in consultation in 2024 the general approach to sector ESRS and the ESRS Sector classification approach.

The general idea discussed is that companies will have to apply a sector standard for activities that:

(a) generate revenues above 10 per cent of the revenues of all their activities; or

(b) for activities that are connected with material actual or potential negative impacts.

The application of these requirements may result in companies having to apply more than one sector standard.

During a meeting on January 15, EFRAG discussed a draft list of ESRS sectors:

• Agriculture, Farming and Fishing
• Forestry
• Construction and Engineering
• Power Production and Energy Utilities distribution
• Water and Waste Services
• Gaming
• Recreation and Leisure
• Capital Markets
• Credit Institutions
• Insurance
• Health Care and Services
• Accommodations
• Food and Beverage Services
• Construction Materials
• Chemical Products
• Construction and Furnishing
• Defence
• Electronics and electrical equipment
• Food and Beverages
• Machinery and Equipment
• Medical Instruments
• Metal Processing
• Motor Vehicles
• Paper and Wood Products
• Pharma and Biotechnology
• Sporting Equipment and Toys
• Textiles, Accessories, Footwear and Jewelleries
• Tobacco
• Mining, Quarrying and Coal
• Oil and Gas
• Real Estate and Services
• Sales and Trade
• Education
• Marketing
• Professional Services
• Information Technology
• Media and Communication
• Other Transportation
• Road Transport

Source: EFRAG

Yesterday (10/1) EFRAG approved the release for a 60-day public consultation of the draft XBRL taxonomy of the ESRS, including the Article 8 digital taxonomy.

After this consultation period, it plans to issue its final advice in the second half of 2024 in the form of a technical recommendation to the European Commission.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is responsible for developing the draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on ESEF, that regulates the implementation (i.e. timing, level of tagging) and relies on the taxonomy prepared by EFRAG.
ESMA will also consult on the final digitalisation rules and effective date.

The EU legal process then requires that EC shall adopt a delegated act [RTS] as an amendment of ESEF regulation (Reg. 2019/815 UE) on the basis of the [Draft] RTS proposed by ESMA.

This means that we will not have the formal XBRL rules for yet some time, but we have the working assumptions in the meantime.
If you use Cleerit ESG to prepare your ESRS report you will be well prepared, as the digital templates are based on these working assumptions.

The ESRS digital taxonomy reflects the human-readable version of the ESRS, and includes a set of individual tags to translate in digital requirements the content of ESRS.

The Draft ESRS XBRL Taxonomy can be explored with an XBRL software, or with the Excel file that provides a human-readable illustration.

However, the Excel file will not be used itself to digitally tag ESRS reports. CSRD requires digitalisation of sustainability reporting.

While tagging of quantitative monetary and non-monetary data points is straightforward, designing the optimal tagging for the narrative disclosures requires more attention.

It is worth noting that, differently from financial reporting, where narrative information in most of the cases accompanies and provides context to a quantitative data point, in sustainability reporting narrative statements are in most cases not explanatory of quantitative information, but they are qualitative data points themselves.

And the majority of the data points in ESRS are narrative, so learning to collect, “consolidate” and manage narrative disclosures will be necessary.

An important part of the ESRS taxonomy are the many “Boolean” XBRL elements, used for questions requiring a positive or negative confirmation (the “whether” in the “whether and how” questions).

The boolean gives the advantage to convert the statement into Yes or Not instead of narrative textblock disclosure. This also makes it easy to construct standardized ratings to compare company performance.

If you are not yet ready to manage digital ESRS reporting, you are welcome to contact us to book a demo.

Source: https://efrag.org/Meetings/2311031439057869/EFRAG-SRB-meeting-10-January-2024-?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1

A recent assessment of 100 large companies in France, shows that the road is bumpy and that there is still a lot of work to do:

➡ 83% of the assessed companies present a materiality analysis, but only 14% publish a “double materiality” analysis following the requirements as defined by ESRS 1.

➡ 73% have defined decarbonization objectives validated by the SBTi, but only 17% detail the different decarbonization levers allowing them to achieve their objectives, as required by ESRS E1.

➡ Not even half of the companies publish (or declare that they take into account) the analysis of at least one climate scenario and quantify their climate risks – and 4 out of 5 do not include climate transition risks.

➡ Less than 10% have defined pollution objectives, only 31% publish water consumption reduction targets and only 13% declare the number of production sites located in or near sensitive areas in terms of biodiversity.

➡ Only 30% have formalized objectives related to the circularity of products and their packaging but 51% declare waste management objectives.

➡ 53% publish indicators related to the gender pay gap of their employees at group level, but only 8% provide information to compare low wages to decent wages.

The carbon tunnel vision is not helpful

This assessment of large companies in France, shows what we all already suspected: there is a long way to go – both to grasp the holistic vision of the ESRS framework, and to get organized around these reporting requirements.

Many still think that CSRD is mostly about reporting on GHG emissions, and this carbon tunnel vision is not helpful.

Reducing emissions remains a key challenge, but the fact is that even in the ESRS E1 Climate change standard less than 20% of the disclosure points are about reporting on emissions.

Strategy, governance, processes, climate change resilience, and climate-related impacts, risks & opportunities are very much in focus. It is as much about preparing for a different future, and future-proof our businesses, as it is about mitigating climate change.

A game-changer for corporate accountability

CSRD and ESRS are a game-changer for corporate accountability, in the EU and globally. It is not just about a report to fill in, it’s a new way of governing that will take several months – even years – to prepare.

The best time to get started was yesterday. The next best time is today.

With ESRS the devil is in the detail

Step one is understanding – in detail – what will be expected.

This can be done by navigating and learning the standards – every single disclosure point (approx. 990 in ESRS, whereof approx. 250 metrics, subject to materiality assessment).

The CSRD-compliant and ESRS-ready Sustainability Strategy, Governance & Reporting SaaS solution Cleerit ESG – with every single disclosure point digitized – helps you navigate the standards, learn and prepare – to get CSRD-ready.

Download the full article here >>

Under CSRD & ESRS, conducting stakeholder surveys to define what sustainability matters are material to your organization is no longer fit for purpose. Nor is a narrow focus on data collection.

Stakeholder concerns and evidence of actual and potential impacts are now in focus, not ranking the relative importance of different sustainability matters.

ESRS is process oriented. Numerical data only account for 30% of the disclosure requirements.

70% of ESRS is about contextual narrative disclosure, and more than 40% of the disclosures require accounting for policies, targets and actions for material topics, according to detailed Minimum Disclosure Requirements (MDR).

The material topics are to be found in the list of 92 topics provided in ESRS 1 (AR 16) that the company shall consider, together with entity-specific material topics.

When asked, “from a data collection point of view, how should business adapt to meet the requirements of mandatory regulations?”, Chiara Del Prete (Sustainability Reporting TEG Chair EFRAG), answered:

“I wonder whether collection of data is entirely capturing the transformational element of what we are trying to achieve in terms of direction of travel.”

“To the extent that they have policies, targets and actions in place to identify, mitigate, prevent and account for their impacts on people and environment – those data will be the same as those we would like to see coming into reports.”

“This is to say that there is much more than collection of data.”

CSRD & ESRS support the European Green Deal – a new growth strategy that aims to transform the Union into a fair and prosperous society, with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy where there are no net emissions of greenhouse gases in 2050 and where economic growth is decoupled from resource use.

In 2022, McKinsey estimated that to reach net zero emissions, an additional $3.5 trillion a year must be invested in physical assets for energy and land-use systems until 2050.

That is the greatest reallocation of capital in history.

So, surveys and data collection will not be enough. Building awareness, skills and transparency – and closing the gap between sustainability, strategy and execution – will be key to success.

Exit stakeholder questionnaires. Enter robust due diligence processes.

Exit narrow focus on data collection. Enter efficient risk management and strategic plans supported by evidence, actions & resources and KPIs.

And, exit manual spreadsheets and glossy ESG-brochures.

Enter holistic, inclusive, fit-for-purpose system support supporting both sustainability strategy and reporting.

Reporting is necessary, but if we are looking to transform, reporting is only a means to an end, not the end.

In this section and on our LinkedIn page, we publish information aimed at helping you prepare for CSRD and learn to navigate the sustainability reporting framework ESRS.

As with other important legislative acts, ESRS is a new code for sustainability reporting with the EU taking the lead and likely becoming the template for many countries outside the bloc – at least for companies keen to show the world that they have state-of-the-art sustainability commitments.

We have analyzed and digitized the entire ESRS framework and count approx. 1000 disclosure points whereof 30% are metrics and 70% are narrative disclosures.

What you will have to report is subject to materiality assessment – and you will also be invited to disclose your own indicators, in addition to those already listed in the ESRS – so the number of disclosure points will be different for different companies.

But one thing is clear, it will take you at least a year to prepare, so don’t wait, get started now.

There are different types of Disclosure Points

➡ Processes, mechanisms and policies expected to be in place

ESRS lists a certain number of processes, mechanisms and policies, and asks you whether you have them in place or not.

Here you can only answer Yes or No. If you answer yes, you will be invited to describe How.

If you answer Yes without this being true, it will be as unlawful as stating that you do not have any outstanding debts in your balance sheet if you do.

And this will not go unnoticed since your report will be integrated into the annual report and needs to be audited.

➡ Impact, risk and opportunity management

ESRS also asks you to list and describe your material sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities, based on a list of topics, as well as the related policies, targets, actions plans, resources and metrics you have in place to manage these.

You will need to describe this as required by the Minimum Disclosure Requirements set out in ESRS 2 sections 4.2 and 5.

Basically, it means that you need to describe what you do, why you do it, who is responsible, when it’s happening, what resources you allocate for goal reaching, and how you are progressing.

Transparency is a key driver for change and the legislator knows that. So here there is no room for cheating if you do not want to risk being accused of greenwashing.

➡ Metrics

Finally, there are the metrics to show the world how you are progressing. But that’s actually the easy part. And they account for only 30% of all disclosure points.

With ESRS, the devil is in the detail. That’s why we regularly analyze detailed disclosure points

First out in our new series “CSRD & ESRS – How to comply and get high extra-financial ratings” was a close-up on the ESRS metric S1.97.b “Total remuneration ratio”, or “CEO employee pay ratio” or “Excessive CEO pay ratio” as it’s sometimes called.

We had a look at why it’s important, how it’s interpreted and how to set a sustainable target. You can read about it here >>

So, stay tuned and follow our LinkedIn page >>

France has transposed the CSRD into its national law, becoming the first EU member state to do so (the deadline for member states is July 2024).

CSRD puts sustainability reporting and governance processes at the top of the agenda. Do you have a system in place to meet these new requirements?

According to French law, the new article L. 821-2 in the trade code states that the auditor shall follow

• the process of developing sustainability information (including in its future digital form)
• the process implemented to determine the information to be published in accordance with the standards for reporting on sustainability (the double materiality assessment).

Where appropriate, the auditor shall make recommendations to ensure the integrity of these processes.

The French corporate governance report must now also contain a description of the main characteristics of the company’s internal control and risk management systems as part of the financial reporting process.

In addition, the disclosure requirement GOV–5 in ESRS 2 mandates the company to describe:

• the scope, main features and components of the risk management and internal control processes and systems in relation to sustainability reporting
• the risk assessment approach followed, including the risk prioritisation methodology
• the main risks identified and their mitigation strategies including related controls
• a description of how the company integrates the findings of its risk assessment and internal controls as regards the sustainability reporting process into relevant internal functions and processes – including
• a description of the periodic reporting of these findings to the administrative, management and supervisory bodies.

If you have not yet set up a system to manage these new obligations, do not hesitate to contact us. The Cleerit ESG solution will get you compliant in just a few days for only €65 per month and user.

The CSRD has been transposed into French law (2023-1142 dated 6/12/2023). It replaces the previous non-financial reporting rules (“DPEF” in France), and the French “SAS” companies are now also included in the scope of the directive.

This obligation responds to the growing need for sustainability information expressed by financial institutions and many other stakeholders, including customers, social partners, public authorities and non-governmental organizations.

The required information will represent a strong incentive for companies to take virtuous actions in the areas concerned.

In the event of non-compliance

A person who has been unable to obtain the sustainability report from a company will have the right to ask the president of the court, ruling in summary proceedings under penalty, to order the company to communicate the report. Procedural costs, where applicable, will be charged to the company.

Economic actors who do not meet their obligation to publish a sustainability report will also be excluded from public procurement procedures and concession contracts.

Mandatory audit

The directive mandates that the sustainability report be audited, initially with limited assurance (i.e. covering the absence of material misstatement).

Previously, the auditor simply had to verify the presence of the “DPEF” in the management report, without controlling its content.

The certification report must be communicated to the shareholders within six months from the closing of the financial year.

A director of a legal person or entity required to have its sustainability report certified, is punishable by imprisonment of 2 years and a fine of 30,000 euros, if an independent third party organization registered on the list of professionals authorized to carry out the sustainability audit has not been appointed.

Obstructing the verification, or refusing to communicate on site all documents useful for carrying out the audit mission, is punishable by imprisonment of 5 years and a fine of 75,000 euros.

French text:

La CSRD est désormais transposée en droit français par l’ordonnance no 2023-1142 du 6/12/2023. Elle remplace les règles relatives à la DPEF, et les sociétés par actions simplifiées sont intégrées dans le champ de la directive.

Cette obligation répond au besoin croissant d’informations en matière de durabilité exprimé par les institutions financières et par de nombreuses autres parties prenantes, dont les clients, les partenaires sociaux, les pouvoirs publics et les organisations non-gouvernementales.

Les catégories d’informations demandées représentent ainsi une incitation forte pour les sociétés concernées à engager des actions vertueuses dans les domaines concernés.

En cas de non-conformité

Toute personne n’ayant pu obtenir la production, la communication ou la transmission des documents ou informations prévus, aura le droit de demander au président du tribunal statuant en référé soit d’enjoindre sous astreinte à la personne ou à l’organe compétent pour la production, la communication ou la transmission des documents ou informations de les communiquer, soit de désigner un mandataire chargé de procéder à cette communication.

Les frais de procédure sont, le cas échéant, mis à la charge de la personne ou de l’organe compétent.

Est également introduit dans la partie législative du code de la commande publique un nouveau dispositif d’exclusion des procédures de passation des marchés publics et des contrats de concession pour les opérateurs économiques qui ne satisfont pas à leur obligation de publication d’informations en matière de durabilité.

Audit obligatoire

La directive prévoit également que les informations en matière de durabilité publiées soient obligatoirement auditées, dans un premier temps, selon une norme d’assurance limitée – c’est-à-dire portant sur l’absence d’anomalie significative.

Auparavant, le commissaire aux comptes devait simplement vérifier la présence de la DPEF au sein du rapport de gestion, sans en contrôler le contenu.

Le rapport de certification doit être communiqué aux associés dans le délai de six mois à compter de la clôture de l’exercice comptable.

Est puni d’un emprisonnement de deux ans et d’une amende de 30 000 euros le fait, pour tout dirigeant d’une personne morale ou entité tenue de faire certifier ses informations en matière de durabilité, de ne pas provoquer la désignation d’un organisme tiers indépendant inscrit sur la liste des professionnels autorisés à procéder à l’audit de durabilité.

Est puni d’un emprisonnement de cinq ans et d’une amende de 75 000 euros le fait de mettre obstacle aux vérifications ou de refuser la communication sur place de toutes les pièces utiles à l’exercice de la mission d’audit.

Source : https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/download/pdf?id=fOTM7ilGbxcYwc159WYE-xxp0eSIBFgHonwOt6OlvQA=