Three key takeaways:
- We are offering a Flash Assessment for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that is tried and tested internally by our data experts. It will enable them to put a strategy in place to identify and gather relevant data points in a structured manner from diverse data sources to support CSRD reporting
- Early adoption of a data strategy, guided by Orange Business, streamlines the CSRD reporting process
- It enables enterprises to better understand the risks and opportunities of sustainability and economic gains as part of an overarching business strategy
This year is pivotal for sustainability reporting. Following large corporations' mandatory reporting for EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) disclosures, the time has come for SMEs to start their compliance journey.
CSRD is designed to raise the bar for corporate sustainability reporting across the board in Europe. Beyond the regulatory landscape, CSRD enables companies to understand the sustainability risks and opportunities they face and integrate them into their overall business strategy. It will also enable them to benchmark with peers and target areas for improvement, ensuring resources are funneled efficiently.
CSRD reporting, however, presents many challenges, including essential insight into the entire value chain, audit assurances to prevent greenwashing and aligning internal processes to adhere to European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). These make ESG data requirements extremely intensive to have an impact. Companies, for example, face disclosure demands on approximately 500 data points to report on ten ESG topics, including pollution, resource use and biodiversity.
This is no small task. To help SMEs reach their targets, Orange Business has created the Flash Assessment to evaluate the accuracy and completeness of sustainability disclosures for CSRD. It analyzes ESG maturity and data readiness, examines governance and tools required for CSRD reporting and identifies any data gaps that could cause issues.
Effective data is the backbone of CSRD
The data that needs to be harvested is extensive due to CSRD’s stringent requirements for comprehensive, reliable and standardized sustainability disclosures. Many SMEs will not have collected data on such a broad-ranging spectrum before.
Companies will need to work with multiple data sources, both inside and outside the company, and collecting it all is a complex operation before analysis. Data needs to be complete, trustworthy and accurate. At the same time, the methodology and sources used to collect data must be clearly documented and disclosed.
Companies must report on how sustainability impacts their business and how their own activities may influence society and the environment. To do this, they will need to integrate the dual aspects of impact materiality and financial materiality to ensure that their sustainability reporting reflects both their external impacts and internal financial risks and opportunities. Impact materiality examines how a company’s activities impact the environment, society and the economy. Financial materiality examines how sustainability-related factors affect a company’s financial position, performance or value creation.
Remodeling sustainability reporting
The Flash Assessment is key to creating a roadmap for CSRD for SMEs, including streamlining the implementation and collecting, modifying and structuring data. As with all our solutions, it is tried and tested internally and supported by our extensive experience in organizing data.
How we do this for you
Following a series of assessment workshops that look at an organization’s current – if any – CSR reporting, tools and processes, Orange Business experts will help draw up a transformation plan aligned with the requirements of CSRD compliance. Areas examined include tools, skills and data mapping to identify any data gaps. It also looks at data models, data owners’ roles and governance policies.
The workshops will guide enterprises through the full CSRD compliance journey, from the raw data stage through harvesting and analysis. They also examine solutions that may make the process easier, such as centralizing data in a data lake, which provides a robust foundation for managing the diverse and complex data required for CSRD sustainability.
View CSRD as an opportunity
Don’t view CSRD as yet another regulatory hurdle to overcome. CSRD presents a golden opportunity for SMEs to add value to their businesses.
By engaging early and embedding the directive’s requirements into business strategies, companies support a greener future and can benefit from insights to enhance efficiency gains and sustainable growth.
Please get in touch with our account team to discuss a Flash Assessment, and take the first steps toward automating your CSRD reporting.
Nicolas is an expert in ESG, focusing primarily on sustainability reporting with an innovative approach that leverages data and artificial intelligence. Thanks to his experience as an auditor, he has an in-depth understanding of business processes, which he addresses pragmatically and efficiently to simplify the daily operations of teams.