Proposed directive on corporate sustainability reporting

The European Commission and European Parliament recently reached political agreement on the European Commission's proposal for a directive on corporate sustainability reporting (the Proposed Directive) intended to result in high quality reporting of corporate sustainability information by relevant companies which can be easily accessed by investors and other stakeholders.

For companies in-scope, the Proposed Directive will have significant implications including the introduction of mandatory European sustainability reporting standards across all ESG topics, with an additional requirement that the reporting be audited by an independent third party. Given the novelty, breadth and significance of what is proposed, in-scope companies will need to begin a review or audit of their operations before these regulations come into force in order to ensure they are prepared to report as the Proposed Directive begins to apply to them.

In our latest publication we outline some of the key provisions of the Proposed Directive including its anticipated timeline, take a look at the existing draft reporting standards and share our thoughts on the implications for in-scope companies together with some practical recommendations.