Explaining the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive

For Europe, the key piece of environmental legislation is the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The European Commission estimates 50,000 companies around the world will be affected, with the first companies having to apply the new rules from as early as 2025, for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2024.

The CSRD data requirement is intensive. Companies will be facing a complex web of disclosure demands with over 1,000 data points to report on, across 10 key ESG topics, including pollution, resource use and biodiversity. Disclosures must cover qualitative and quantitative measures across short, medium and long-term considerations, spanning the entire value chain.

All companies who fulfil two of the three requirements outlined below will be required to comply with the CSRD: