The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)

Increase the transparency of your sustainability initiatives

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is the new EU legislation that requires all large companies to publish regular reports on their environmental and social impact activities. It helps investors, consumers, policymakers and other stakeholders evaluate non-financial performance whilst encouraging a more responsible approach to business.

Crucially, it ensures that sustainability reporting is front of mind for large and medium-sized companies. And for the first time, the CSRD defines a common reporting framework for non-financial data.

It applies to all companies meeting at least two of the following three criteria; €40m net revenue, €20m balance sheet and more than 250 employees. Most companies above this size based in the EU, as well as EU subsidiaries of foreign companies will fall within the scope of the CSRD – approximately 50,000 companies in total.

understanding the CSRD?

The CSRD reporting standards will help companies to better measure and manage their exposure to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) related risks, as well as becoming better corporate citizens by measuring, disclosing and managing the sustainability impacts they create. It covers:

• Environmental – for example climate change, pollution, water and marine resources, biodiversity and ecosystems, circular economy.
• Social – for example diversity and inclusion, human rights, working conditions, health and safety, employee relations, pay gaps, related rights, workers in the value chain, affected communities, consumers and end users.
• Governance - for example policies, risk management and internal controls, ownership and structural transparency, independence and oversight, responsible business practices, ethics, anti-corruption and executive pay fairness.

How can bureau veritas support?

With a specialist team of sustainability experts (engineers, scientists) operating worldwide, we are well placed to provide unique understanding and insights to clients in reviewing their full range of operational activities against the new sustainability reporting standards. Companies meeting the criteria must submit their CSRD aligned report on 1 January 2024, detailing sustainability performance for the 2023 financial year. This will be a challenging process for reporting companies, because data collection and auditing will require time, collaboration across finance, operations, human resources and sustainability teams.

We are urging companies to act now. Our team works in partnership with companies, by assessing your current situation, needs and supporting the most appropriate route to achieve compliance.

We offer a Gap analysis to review your existing organization practices and sustainability metrics against the known CSRD requirements to identify any gaps with existing processes. We also provide verification and assurance of sustainability data for voluntary declarations, NFRD and will be doing so for CSRD.

Bureau Veritas has a long track record of excellence in sustainability services and our impartiality ensures complete peace of mind.

the Benefits of csrd

• Prepare for compliance with the new CSRD – gain trust and credibility
• Demonstrate sustainability performance to stakeholders
• Attract capital investment
• Gather data in a responsible and ethical way to inform strategies
• Manage risks and achieve a better sustainability performance long-term
• Identify issues or gaps to inform decision making
• All with support from a specialist sustainability team – global leaders in QHSE and CSR