Sustainability reporting in accordance with CSRD and ESRS

CSR reporting: overview and basics

• History of sustainability activities by countries and companies, e.g. 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.
• Greenwashing or serious reporting?
• Tension between the financial and non-financial areas.
• Tense relationship: Necessary transparency or bureaucracy monster?
• What information do stakeholders need from companies?
• Measurability of sustainability goals.
• Motivation for sustainable action in companies: intrinsic, economic and due to legal requirements.
• Integration of CSR and sustainability into corporate strategy and the creation of added value for companies.

Legal basis: Old and new EU Directive - CSRD RL UG (2024) - ESRS - Omnibus initiative of the EU

• Origin and areas of application.
  • Who has to report? CSRD and Omnibus.
  • Application to voluntary reports (VSME).
• Group reporting.
• Audit of financial statements - audit duty of the supervisory board.

Practical structure of the non-financial statement

• expectations of the addressees, the markets and the legislator.
• Standards to be applied (ESRS).
• Materiality: business relevance vs. stakeholder interest.
• Creation process: Problems of data collection and processing.
• Data points and disclosure requirements of individual ESRS.
• Review by the Supervisory Board (reasonable assurance).
• Audit by the auditor.
• Selection of relevant topics and mandatory reports.
• External impact and image cultivation: content structure, credibility, layout.
• Further development of the report.
• Related topics, e.g. EU taxonomy, Supply Chain Due Diligence Act.

Discussion of current trends and topics using many practical examples.

Analysis and solutions to selected current practical issues.