Reporting guidance
Preparing for the CSRD
From understanding your obligations to building an evidence-backed sustainability statement. A practical starting point for business leaders and reporting teams.
CSRD is the legal obligation. ESRS is the reporting rulebook.
Start with scope,
not a template.
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requires companies within its legal scope to report sustainability information using the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. It is not a requirement for every business, and a GRI report alone does not satisfy an applicable CSRD obligation.
Scope, reporting dates and the standards are subject to amendments and transition rules. Confirm the law that applies to your entity and reporting year before committing to a reporting programme; do not rely on employee count alone or treat a proposed change as adopted law.
Outside legal scope, customers and lenders may still request sustainability information. Confirm what they will accept: VSME or GRI may be more proportionate. Their request does not automatically make ESRS mandatory for you.
General preparation guidance, not a legal scope assessment or a compliance determination. Check current EU rules and national implementation with a qualified adviser.
Your preparation checklist
Ten steps to organise the work.
0 of 10 reviewed
Ask your legal or finance adviser to check the applicable law, national implementation, group structure, exemptions and transition rules. Record the conclusion and revisit it when rules change.
Separate a legal reporting duty from a request by a customer or lender, or an internal strategy goal. Confirm any requested standard and acceptance criteria; a supplier questionnaire alone does not put your company in CSRD scope.
Name an executive sponsor and reporting lead. Involve finance, sustainability, HR, procurement, operations and legal, with named data owners, resources and approval deadlines.
Map the reporting entity, consolidated group and relevant upstream and downstream relationships. Document how the sustainability boundary relates to the financial statements and where value-chain information is needed.
Assess impacts on people and the environment as well as sustainability-related financial risks and opportunities. Engage relevant stakeholders and document evidence, thresholds, time horizons and decisions; consider each perspective separately.
Start with ESRS 1 and ESRS 2, then map material topics to the relevant environmental, social and governance standards. Check disclosure-level rules and available phase-ins rather than treating every datapoint as mandatory.
Compare each applicable disclosure with existing policies, actions, targets and metrics. Identify missing information, responsible teams, sources, methodologies, estimates and an evidence trail.
Agree units, reporting periods, calculation methods and review controls. Collect energy, emissions and other material-topic data, request proportionate value-chain inputs, and document estimation methods and limitations where permitted.
Engage an assurance provider and agree the evidence needed for the applicable assurance requirement. Review materiality documentation, calculations, controls and management approvals before drafting is complete.
Prepare the sustainability statement in the management report with the required structure and financial-report connections. Check applicable language, filing and digital-format requirements, obtain approvals and set a yearly improvement cycle.
Reviewing these steps is not proof of compliance. Your checklist selections last only while this page is open.
The reporting standards
Find the official ESRS text.
The adopted first set contains twelve standards. ESRS 1 sets the principles; ESRS 2 provides general disclosures irrespective of the materiality outcome. Topical disclosures depend on materiality and specific requirements, including certain topical requirements linked to ESRS 2. A non-material climate conclusion requires a detailed explanation.
Each link below opens the official EU regulation containing the standards in Annex I. Check its current consolidated version and amendments for your reporting period; draft revised standards are not automatically the applicable law.
Cross-cutting
Environment
Social
Governance
Official sources and implementation support
- European Commission — CSRD rules, amendments and reporting developments ↗
- EUR-Lex — CSRD directive and consolidated versions ↗
- EUR-Lex — adopted ESRS delegated regulation ↗
- EFRAG — ESRS standards resources ↗
- EFRAG — materiality, value-chain and datapoint implementation guidance ↗
EFRAG’s implementation guidance covers materiality assessment (IG 1), the value chain (IG 2) and ESRS datapoints (IG 3). This non-authoritative guidance was developed for the 2023 ESRS: check its relevance against any later amendments and the version applicable to your reporting year. It does not replace the adopted standards.
Build on what you already have.
Existing GRI disclosures, energy data and supplier information can provide a useful starting point. Map them to ESRS, identify what is missing and avoid assuming that one framework automatically fulfils the other.