ESG Reporting

ESG reporting is the process of measuring an organisation’s environmental, social and governance performance against defined metrics and publishing the results so regulators, investors, lenders or customers can compare it year on year and against peers. It can be a legal obligation, a voluntary standard, or both at once.

A typical ESG report includes the results of a materiality assessment, quantitative KPIs mapped to a chosen framework — such as ESRS datapoints or GRI disclosures — narrative on strategy and governance, and, where required under CSRD, a limited assurance statement from an external auditor. Formats range from a standalone sustainability report to ESG data embedded directly in the annual report.

Beyond satisfying a regulatory requirement, ESG reporting can lower the cost of capital, keep a company eligible for tenders and financing that now require disclosure, and give management better data for decisions that used to be made without it. It also reduces the risk of a last-minute scramble when a lender, investor or large customer asks for the data anyway.

It depends on where you’re incorporated, your size, and who is asking. In the EU, mandatory CSRD reporting now applies only to undertakings above 1,000 employees and €450 million net turnover, plus certain non-EU parents. Outside that scope, reporting is usually driven by a bank, investor or customer request rather than a legal duty.

EU undertakings with an average of more than 1,000 employees and more than €450 million in net turnover, on both counts. Non-EU parent companies are in scope if their EU turnover exceeds €450 million and an EU subsidiary or branch exceeds €200 million. Listed SMEs are exempt.

CSRD/ESRS is an EU legal obligation covering both financial and impact materiality. GRI is a global voluntary standard focused on an organisation’s impact on people and the planet. IFRS S1 and S2, issued by the ISSB, are investor-focused and cover only financially material sustainability and climate information. Many companies report against more than one at the same time.

ESG reporting metrics are the quantifiable data points a framework requires — Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions, energy and water consumption, employee turnover, gender pay gap, board diversity and workplace injury rate are among the most common. Each metric needs a defined boundary, method and unit so it stays comparable year on year and against peers.

On 3 July 2026 the European Commission adopted a delegated act revising the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. The revised standards, known as ESRS (2026), cut mandatory datapoints by roughly 61% compared with the 2023 version, remove sector-specific standards, and apply from financial year 2027, with optional early adoption for FY2026.

Not by legal obligation, but you may still need to respond to requests from banks, investors or large customers who report themselves. The EU’s new voluntary sustainability reporting standard, and simplified regimes like VSME, exist specifically so smaller companies can answer those requests without adopting the full ESRS.

VSME is a voluntary simplified sustainability reporting standard for small and medium-sized enterprises, developed by EFRAG. It gives SMEs a proportionate way to answer sustainability data requests from banks and larger business partners without applying the full set of ESRS datapoints.

Run a materiality assessment before deciding what to report, rather than reporting everything a framework could ask for. Collect primary data against a defined boundary and calculation method from the outset, so it’s usable across multiple frameworks. Keep a full audit trail as you go rather than reconstructing evidence at year-end, and report consistently year over year so results are comparable.

Our platform collects data once through QB Edge, runs it through defined KPI calculation logic and a double materiality assessment, then maps the same figures to ESRS datapoints, GRI disclosures, SFDR templates and other frameworks, with a full audit trail attached to every value.

Most organisations can set up data collection and start tracking KPIs within a few weeks, depending on how much of the underlying data already exists and how many systems need to be connected. A full first reporting cycle typically takes longer, since it includes the materiality assessment and stakeholder engagement steps

Limited assurance, provided by a statutory auditor or an independent assurance service provider depending on the Member State. Following the Omnibus I reforms, the planned move to reasonable assurance was dropped, and the European Commission is instead required to adopt harmonised limited assurance standards.