Title:
Considerations Regarding the Sustainability Reporting Under the European Sustainability Reporting Standard in the Context of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive

Authors:
PITZ Fabian, PLESEA Doru Alexandru, HEINEMANN Bastian Leonard, SOEHNER Selina, Germany

Abstract:

Climate change is one of the greatest threats facing the entire world. It affects not just individuals, but each of us directly and personally. The threat of global destruction driven by climate change must be reduced with the help of the European Green Deal. The European Green Deal is the growth strategy of the European Union (EU) with the goal of developing the EU into a modern, resource-efficient, and competitive economy with zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. As part of the European Green Deal, the European Commission (EU Commission) is committed to transforming sustainability reporting. The redesign of sustainability reporting is necessary to improve the quality of sustainability reporting. Quality problems mean that stakeholders, especially investors, lack a reliable overview of the sustainability-related risks affecting companies. An accurate representation of companies' sustainability-related impacts is crucial to directing investments into sustainable activities and thus mitigating the threat of climate change. To optimize the quality of sustainability information and provide companies with improved access to sustainable financing, the EU Commission has introduced uniform European standards, known as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). These standards are consistent with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which serves as a guideline for corporate sustainability reporting. The CSRD stipulates that companies must apply uniform standards to fulfill their sustainability reporting obligations. The question of how the ESRS can improve the quality of sustainability reporting will be discussed in the following paper. The objective of this paper is to present a critical discussion of sustainability reporting in accordance with the ESRS, with a particular focus on the objectives of the CSRD. First, we will define a theoretical framework for sustainability reporting, after which we will proceed to a critical discussion of the ESRS, taking into account the selected objectives of the CSRD. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the merits of introducing uniform standards.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.51505/ijaemr.2025.1215