The Commission of the European Union (EU) has recently revised its requirements for the EU’s sustainability reporting standards.
Published in early July, the Commission’s Delegated Regulation modifies the existing European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which cover a broad range of issues, including environmental, social, and governance-related matters. Their purpose is to promote transparency for stakeholders regarding an organization’s sustainability efforts.
According to the Commission, the revised standards are intended to reduce administrative burdens on companies impacted by the requirements while also maintaining their core principles. The new standards are “shorter and clearer, add new flexibilities, and streamline key processes.” They reportedly reduce the number of mandatory datapoints by over 60% and the total number of datapoints by over 70%, and are also expected to reduce organization reporting costs by more than 30% per company.
The Commission’s Delegated Regulation has now been forwarded to the EU Parliament and the Council of the EU for their review. The reporting measures detailed in the Delegated Regulation will then take effect after the end of the two-month review period.
Read the Commission’s Delegated Regulation on its revised sustainability reporting standards.