Public Consultation: Feedback on the ESRS Set 1 Delegated Act

What’s in it?

In this publication, we highlight our main observations and messages regarding the European Commission’s Draft Delegated Act public consultation. This Delegated Act sets out the cross-cutting standards and standards for the disclosure of environmental, social and governance information (ESRS Set 1) of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which requires actors under its scope (large companies and listed companies) to disclose information on their ESG related risks and opportunities, essential to help investors and other stakeholders evaluate the sustainability performance of companies. Our observations can be summarised in the following messages:

1. Do not further divide the current draft into different legal acts.
2. Current changes severely threaten comparability.
3. Align EFRAG’s technical advice and reinstate mandatory reporting for a core set of disclosure requirements and data points.
4. Retract the proposed additional flexibility in the materiality assessment methodology, maintain the mandatory requirement for the overarching standard on general information (ESRS 2), and reconsider the decision to make it voluntary for entities to disclose information explaining why a topic is not considered material.
5. Remove the phase-in standards of scope 3 GHG emissions and biodiversity for companies below 750 employees.
6. Making biodiversity transition plans voluntary enables greenwashing, disincentivises investor consideration of impact, threatens data quality and comparability, and undermines sustainability reporting mandates and the EU’s commitment to biodiversity reporting.
7. The additional flexibility is not in line with the double materiality approach and hinders interoperability.
8. Reintroduce the obligation that companies must always provide the data points that are required in the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

Read about all of this and more in our report (link above)