A joint statement, signed by 29 civil society organisations, has called on EU policymakers to “protect the ambition of the [ESRS] and ensure that the [CSRD] delivers meaningful and reliable sustainability reporting”.
Last year, EFRAG submitted simplified versions of the 12 reporting standards as its technical advice to the European Commission. The EU body is expected to adopt the final revised ESRS, following a one-month public consultation, in the summer.
The joint statement reads: “The focus of the revised ESRS should continue to be on streamlining corporate sustainability disclosures while facilitating a pragmatic reporting process well integrated with companies’ risk and due diligence processes, instead of creating a separate, disconnected and costly approach.”
In particular, the signatories said the revisions should:
- Apply the materiality principle instead of cutting critical disclosures
- Reduce excessive reliefs that increase risk and complexity
- Maintain financial quantification as a strategic tool
- Protect companies’ ability to focus their reporting exercise
“A well-calibrated reporting framework reduces long-term costs, strengthens market integrity and supports the strategic transformation of the European economy. Dilution would not reduce risks: it would obscure them,” the statement concludes.
Signatories to the joint statement include WWF, Frank Bold, Fairtrade International, the World Benchmarking Alliance, the European Sustainable Business Federation, and the Business and Human Rights Centre.