An overwhelming 94% of public companies across the EU (European Union) and the UK are planning to comply with the EU’s Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive (CSRD), even when it’s not mandatory, according to a study by data provider Workiva.
The study surveyed over 500 leaders in countries including the UK, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
The survey, however, indicated there should be more progress on integrating sustainability reporting functions and processes.
It said: “To maintain competitive advantage, integrated reports and integrated reporting practices are becoming the new gold standard: the CSRD has raised the bar for what is expected from reporting, and companies outside the scope of the CSRD will need to keep up with their EU-based peers.”
The report found that while 44% of survey respondents said they plan to improve collaboration between sustainability and finance, only 10% are actively working on this collaboration. An even lower number of respondents (6%) are working on the collaboration between finance, sustainability, and risk.
Erik Saito, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EMEA at Workiva, said:
“There is a clear lack of in-depth understanding when it comes to the requirements of integrated reporting—particularly in regard to CSRD compliance and the timelines needed to establish, test, and optimise a truly cross-functional reporting structure. Organisations simply won’t be able to approach CSRD compliance with a ‘trial-and-error’ approach; the demands are far more complex than anything that has come before—and will only continue to increase.”
Our solution
While the EU’s CSRD is crucial to sustainability, many businesses are still not fully aware of what reporting will entail.
Our mission is to take all the guesswork out of business’ sustainability reporting.
ClearVUE.Zero, our carbon and energy accounting platform, provides the data you need for CSRD reports within seconds of installation.
A team of policy and sustainability experts then work with you to create reports in a corporate format.
