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We analysed the 2025 reports of 100 large EU companies disclosing sustainability information under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) to assess how companies are addressing critical sustainability challenges in their strategy.
The research evaluated what companies are telling us on climate, double materiality assessment, due diligence, actions and metrics, and governance. After the Omnibus I package narrowed the scope of the CSRD and simplified the standards, the quality of reports now depends more than ever on what companies themselves judge to be material.
The CSRD works as a transparency tool. Users can now distinguish frontrunners from laggards and discern generic claims from actual evidence. However, our research also reveals a very uneven picture when it comes to how companies report on more complex sustainability challenges, as well as a concerning lack of integration in companies’ strategies. Among our key findings:
Our research shows that the CSRD delivers where the standards are clear. Where they require clear metrics and details on ambition and strategy, as with climate transition plans, disclosures are more transparent and useful. Investors, civil society and business partners can distinguish claims from evidence, and frontrunners from laggards, which is vital for sustainable finance. But the same data shows hesitation in the transition, and that is a warning sign for EU competitiveness.
The sustainability transition is also an industrial and innovation challenge. A corporate sector that is not ready for clean industrial policy, green procurement and sustainable finance is a structural risk to EU competitiveness. Uncertainty in transition planning is a warning sign that the CSRD data helps to expose.
Our report goes beyond the findings. It sets out specific conclusions and practical recommendations for companies on how to develop strong reporting practices from climate transition plans and climate risk assessments to double materiality, due diligence and value chain reporting. It also offers directions for public authorities and EU policymakers on how to address the gaps we identified, from assurance and supervision to sector-specific guidance and the wider sustainable finance and industrial policy framework.
Explore the research
After several months of delay, today, the European Commission presented its proposal for a Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive in Brussels. The main objective of this new legislation is to integrate into European law international standards such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights - adopted globally over a decade ago - and standards developed and approved by the OECD.
What is the content of sustainability due diligence standards, how can companies effectively implement due diligence, and what challenges and benefits does it bring to businesses? These and other questions were answered by speakers at the webinar organised by Frank Bold.
On 23 February 2022, the European Commission released its proposal for a directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence. This directive could represent a landmark step forward in minimising the negative impacts of businesses on workers, communities and the environment worldwide. In response, over 220 NGOs and trade unions from around the world welcome the proposal as an essential and long-awaited step toward corporate accountability, responsible business conduct and access to justice.
