ESRS turn onto the home straight
Two important milestones have been reached for sustainability communication in European business. Firstly, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) for future ESG reporting are on the home straight. Secondly, on 13 June 2023, the Commission published the technical assessment criteria for the four non-climate-related sustainability targets of the EU taxonomy.
The EU Commission opened the four-week public consultation period on the revised draft of the first set of ESRS on 9 June 2023. Previously, EFRAG, as technical advisor under the European Commission's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), submitted the first set of sector-independent draft standards on 22 November 2022, comprising twelve sector-independent draft ESRS. Following public feedback and finalisation of the revised draft, the first ESRS will be adopted as a delegated act. The status of the consultation can be followed on the homepage of the European Commission (Link: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13765-European-sustainability-reporting-standards-first-set_en)
Regarding EU taxonomy, the European Commission published two delegated acts on the EU Environmental Taxonomy Regulation (Environmental Taxonomy Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2020/852) on 13 June 2023. (Link: https://finance.ec.europa.eu/regulation-and-supervision/financial-services-legislation/implementing-and-delegated-acts/taxonomy-regulation_en)
This includes, among other things, a delegated regulation with seven annexes. The first four annexes contain new technical assessment criteria for the four non-climate related environmental objectives of the EU environmental taxonomy:
- Sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources
- Transition to a circular economy
- Pollution prevention and control
- Protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems
Annexes five to seven contain amendments to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178 on reporting.