Frank Bold’s research shows significant improvement in corporate disclosures largely due to the standardisation brought by the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Companies are reporting ambitious climate targets and disclosing clearer, more comparable and meaningful sustainability information.
EU policy-makers are negotiating drastic changes proposed by the EU Commission to water down these rules as part of the first Omnibus on Simplification. The sudden U-turn and rushed legal process risks undermining momentum among the business community. Weakening the EU laws would roll back the progress made on transparency, data quality, and long-term climate planning at a time when consistency and ambition are most critical.
Our analysis shows how companies are responding to EU sustainability legislation, revealing positive developments in the transparency and quality of disclosures while also highlighting some persisting challenges:
Our analysts reviewed and assessed the sustainability information disclosed by 50 influential companies from the financial, textile, energy, agrifood and beverages, pharmaceuticals, mining and transportation sectors.
The complete research will be released this September, alongside a compilation of best practices.
Businesses require clarity, certainty, and stability to invest in sustainability reporting systems that meet market and stakeholder demands. The proposed rollbacks threaten not only environmental progress but also the credibility of EU leadership in sustainable finance. To preserve the achievements of the past decade and foster a forward-looking and competitive business environment, policy-makers in the EU Parliament must reject measures that weaken the CSRD and CSDDD and instead reinforce their consistent, effective application.
If you have any questions about the preliminary findings, or would like to share inputs, please get in touch with Susanna Arus at susanna.arus@frankbold.org or Lorena Bisignano at lorena.bisignano@frankbold.org.
This short video explains everything you may have ever wanted to know about the Reconstruction of the State, but were afraid to ask.
New reporting rules require certain large EU companies to include in their management report a non-financial statement. These companies need to begin gathering and auditing information in order to be prepared to publish the required information within good time after the end of the 2017 financial year. Frank Bold recently published a short guide on the Non Financial Reporting Directive that identifies who will be affected and explains how to comply with the new reporting requirements.
On September 28, Frank Bold will hold the Creating Sustainable Companies Summit gathering leading thinkers, businesses, policymakers and civil society in Brussels to chart the way to the next generation of corporations and future of corporate governance.
