CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive)

What it is

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is Directive (EU) 2022/2464. It amends the Accounting Directive, the Audit Directive and related acts, and replaces the earlier non-financial reporting rules. Companies in scope must publish sustainability information in a dedicated section of their management report.

Key features:

• reporting follows the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS);
• topics are chosen through a double materiality assessment;
• the report is tagged digitally so it can be read by machines;
• an auditor or other accredited provider gives limited assurance.

Large public-interest entities that were already reporting, including many banks and insurers, applied the rules first, for financial years starting in 2024. A 2025 directive postponed later waves by two years. The Omnibus I simplification, with a final text adopted by the Council on 24 February 2026, limits scope to companies with more than 1,000 employees and net turnover above EUR 450 million.

Why it matters

The CSRD makes sustainability data part of the official annual report, with the same governance and assurance as financial data. For banks and investors, client reports are an input to their own disclosures, such as financed emissions, the green asset ratio and SFDR statements. Reporting teams need data from risk, finance, procurement and human resources, so the work cuts across the firm.

Worked example

Illustrative numbers. A banking group has 3,000 employees and EUR 2 billion of net turnover, so it is in scope.

• Its double materiality assessment screens 90 sustainability matters and finds 12 material, including climate change (ESRS E1), own workforce (S1) and business conduct (G1).
• Under E1 it reports Scope 1 emissions of 2,000 tonnes, Scope 2 of 6,000 tonnes and financed emissions of 4 million tonnes CO2 equivalent, showing that lending dominates its footprint.
• The auditor reviews the process and data and gives a limited assurance conclusion.

Who uses it

• ESG Reporting Specialists run the materiality assessment, collect data and draft the sustainability statement.
• Group Reporting Accountants align sustainability data with the financial consolidation scope and the reporting calendar.
• External Audit Associates give assurance on the sustainability statement.
• Sustainable Finance Analysts and ESG Investment Analysts use client CSRD reports in lending and investment decisions.
• Compliance Officers track scope changes and deadlines.

Common confusions

• The CSRD sets the obligation; the ESRS set the content. They are separate legal acts.
• Double materiality is wider than financial materiality used in financial statements.
• Limited assurance is less than the reasonable assurance of a financial audit.
• Being out of scope after the Omnibus does not remove data requests from banks, investors and large clients.