Sustainability reporting

Sustainability reporting comprises the systematic disclosure of non-financial information by companies, either voluntarily or on the basis of statutory requirements. At the heart of European reporting regulation is the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD, Directive (EU) 2022/2464), which extends the disclosure requirements under the previous Non-Financial Reporting Directive (Directive (EU) 2014/95) to broader sustainability reporting obligations. As a result of the (currently ongoing) transposition of the CSRD into German law, companies in the first wave of users will be obliged to prepare a sustainability report for the first time from the 2025 financial year.

The content requirements for the report are set out in the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772). In order to ensure a minimum level of sustainability-related transparency towards stakeholders, the ESRS require the disclosure of qualitative and quantitative information in the areas of environmental, social and governance (ESG). In accordance with the principle of dual materiality, both the financial impact of sustainability-related risks on the company(outside-in perspective) and the impact of the company's activities on the environment(inside-out perspective) must be taken into account.

Key legal challenges lie, for example, in the practical handling of the double materiality analysis and the proportionality of the burden on (small and medium-sized) companies when requesting data along the supply chain. There is also a need for a coherent link between the CSRD and other EU initiatives - such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the Taxonomy Regulation.

See also the following publications in this regard

• Pöschke, Moritz, New rules on sustainability reporting: The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) has a massive impact on medium-sized companies, GmbHR 2023, R68
• Pöschke, Moritz, New rules on sustainability reporting: The law implementing the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) brings no surprises, GmbHR 2024, R276
• Pöschke, Moritz, Still no implementation of the sustainability reporting obligation under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD): Significance for affected companies, GmbHR 2025, R36
• Pöschke, Moritz, "Omnibus" proposals of the European Commission to amend the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), GmbHR 2025, R117
• Pöschke, Moritz, New rules on sustainability reporting: German government presents (new) draft bill to implement the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), GmbHR, 2025, R244
• Hennrichs, Joachim, European standards for sustainability reporting - gold standard or aberration?, NZG 2023, 1149
• Hennrichs, Joachim, European Sustainability Reporting Standards - Export hit to save the climate?, KlimaRZ 2023, 149
• Hennrichs, Joachim, Legal policy summary of the revision of EU sustainability regulation, ZGR 2025, 341 (together with Hommelhoff)

Current research project

Employees of the Institute for Sustainability, Corporate Law and Reporting (INUR) are continuously researching the relationship between the CSRD and the ESRS and other sustainability-related reporting obligations (e.g. under the CSDDD). Of particular academic interest in this context is the so-called EU Omnibus Package, which aims to simplify European sustainability reporting regulations, among other things.

Furthermore, European constitutional concerns regarding the CSRD and the ESRS are examined against the background of the corresponding discussion on the SEC's Climate-Related Disclosure Rules in the USA.