From burden to benefits: Climate & Company teams up with food companies, policymakers and financial institutions to turn sustainability reporting into a competitive advantage

Climate & Company has begun serving as a sparring partner for three major companies in the German food sector, to make sustainability reporting work across their value chains. The innovative project, funded by the Mercator Foundation, launched in the summer of 2024. 

While there is a critical debate about the future of EU sustainability reporting standards, the “Making Sustainable Finance Work in Germany” project aims to turn sustainability reporting into a competitive advantage for companies. It brings together companies, policymakers, financial institutions and experts to help businesses leverage sustainability reporting, for example through improved access to capital. From 2025, a high-level advisory board is set to support the project to address regulatory gaps and share success stories. 

Sparring partners to make EU sustainability reporting regulation work

Over the next 18 months, our disclosure and sustainability experts at Climate & Company will work with BIO COMPANY, follow food and Terra Naturkost Handel, three major food producers and retailers in Germany, as they work through the reporting requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and its European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).   

In the context of increasing regulatory uncertainty due to political pressure and due to a lack of a blueprint for sustainability reporting Climate & Company helps the companies to overcome bottlenecks such as the so-called double materiality assessment and data collection along their value chains. Furthermore, the project team develops scalable solutions for companies to access strategic benefits of sustainability reporting to show that setting up reporting processes on material sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities is a no-regret process that provides strategic benefits leading to improved risk management and more resilient value chains.  

Avoiding “double-reporting”: Bringing financial institutions on board

The project aims to demonstrate how companies can leverage the data they collect for their CSRD reporting strategically: reporting on green transition plans, for instance, can help access affordable finance.   

This is why we are partnering up with financial institutions that connect the dots between their data needs and CSRD reporting. Our goal is to ensure that companies avoid “double reporting”, allowing them to focus on the essential, decision-useful sustainability information – both for their CSRD reporting and for accessing sustainable finance.  

Going full circle: feeding companies’ experience back into decision–making 

A core objective of this project is to collect specific feedback from companies as they implement the CSRD, identifying potential regulatory improvements and scalable solutions throughout the process. Companies’ experiences during the reporting process will provide valuable insights to help policymakers refine and simplify sustainability regulations. Business and investor associations act as multipliers of the pilot project and carry scalable solutions to the market.  

To support this effort, we are establishing a high-level project Advisory Board with policymakers, representatives from government authorities and ministries, financial institutions, academia, corporate representatives, industry associations, and audit organisations. The Advisory Board will focus on addressing regulatory gaps and practical challenges in sustainability reporting, delivering actionable recommendations for policy improvements. The Advisory Board will play an instrumental part in ensuring that the project delivers on identifying and developing scalable solutions that benefit businesses, inform policymaking, and advance broader sustainability objectives. The Board will meet quarterly, starting in 2025. 

These are the confirmed members of our Advisory Board (in alphabetical order):  

• Anne Bechmann (Cooperative Bank, GLS Bank),  

• Dr. Susan Krohn (German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, BMUV),  

• Prof. Dr. Andreas Löschel (Ruhr University Bochum),  

• Verena Menne (Forum for Sustainable Investment,  FNG),  

• Katrin Peters (Auditing Firm for medium-sized companies, Nexia),  

• Ulrike Schaal (Federal Association for Organic Food and Natural Goods, BNN),  

• Prof. Dr. Frank Schiemann (University of Bamberg),  

• Silke Stremlau (Chairwoman of the Sustainable Finance Advisory Board of the German Federal Government),  

• Katarin Wagner (Forum for Sustainable Development of the German Economy e.V., Econsense),  

• Armand Zorn (SPD, Member of the German Bundestag).  

Additional Members of the German Bundestag are expected to join after the Federal election on 23 February 2025. 

The project is set to run until mid-2026. Interested parties can still apply to join the programme – be it companies who work on sustainability reporting, political decision-makers who seek to drive sustainable finance forward or experts working in financial institutions exploring financial products for the transition. 

More details about the project:  

https://climateandcompany.org/projects/making-sustainable-finance-work-in-germany/ 

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