home
frankly speaking podcast

#123 Have the CSRD and European standards delivered on sustainability?

How is the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) playing out in practice and what lessons can be learned? Listen to Frank Bold’s own Sustainability Researcher Lorena Bisignano, and Filip Gregor, Head of Responsible Companies and member of EFRAG’s SRB.

** The Frankly Speaking podcast has been selected as a finalist for the sixth annual Anthem Awards, recognizing work in sustainability, environment and social impact. And there's a way you can help us. We're asking you to vote for Frankly Speaking for the Anthem Community Voice Award. The award is decided by a public vote. Every vote helps us reach more people and brings our conversations to a wider audience. It only takes a moment. Cast your vote HERE before the 29th of October. **

As the Omnibus I package narrows the CSRD's scope and simplifies the ESRS, more responsibility falls on companies to report with a genuine commitment to show progress.  

The stakes extend well beyond compliance. The sustainability transition is fundamentally an industrial and innovation challenge, and Europe's position in it is uncertain. As the United States retrenches from climate commitments and China accelerates its dominance in clean technology, the EU's competitiveness, energy security, and geopolitical influence increasingly depend on whether European companies are treating sustainability as a strategic priority.

In this episode of the Frankly Speaking podcast, Richard Howitt was joined by Frank Bold researcher Lorena Bisignano and Head of Responsible Companies and member of EFRAG SRB, Filip Gregor. They co-authored the second annual study of corporate sustainability reporting: “Delivering on Sustainability: Evidence from the second year of CSRD implementation”. The research analysed the 2025 reports of 100 large EU companies that disclose sustainability information under the CSRD. It assessed how these companies address critical sustainability challenges in their strategy, focusing on what they report on climate, double materiality assessment, due diligence, actions and metrics, and governance.

Together they reveal what is improving, where gaps in strategy still remain and their advice for wave 2 companies starting to prepare for their sustainability reporting journey. You’ll also hear more about:

  • If the intent of the legislation is being properly achieved
  • Whether good practices in one sector are transferable to another
  • If companies are doing effective due diligence and how the example of the textile apparel sector is striking
  • How far have companies been using AI in this reporting, and what impact has the use of AI had on the reports themselves

Follow us on LinkedIn and Youtube!

You may also like these episodes

47:06

#113 Kathryn Dovey & Alex de Vries-Gao: Responsible AI - What You Need to Know

From Responsible Business to Responsible AI: what you need to know and do. Listen to Kathryn Dovey, founder of Recalibrate and ex-OECD & Alex de Vries-Gao, data scientist and researcher at VU Amsterdam

36:06

#112 Nathalie Dogniez & Julian Toth: What Is the Current State of Responsible Investment?

How has responsible investment developed over the past ten years? Listen to Nathalie Dogniez, chair of Eurosif and Julian Toth, Executive Director of the Czech Sustainable Investment Forum

36:18

#111 John Morrison: Why Sustainability Will Come Back Stronger

How far has business and human rights come since the early 2000s? Listen to John Morrison, founder and former CEO of the Institute for Business and Human Rights.