The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) marks a pivotal shift in sustainability reporting. Driven by the European Union, it sets unprecedented, rigorous standards that push for greater transparency and accountability in corporate reporting.
With reporting obligations imminent, companies are gearing up to equip themselves for the inaugural reporting period, which will be required for many companies in 2025 based on 2024 performance. They recognise the urgency of the situation.
We’re excited to announce that the European Sustainability Reporting Standard (ESRS), recently released as part of the CSRD framework, is now seamlessly integrated into our Benchmark Gensuite sustainability platform within the Disclosure Director module. Our dedicated sustainability team has analysed the ESRS text and painstakingly built a set of supporting metrics to cover all reporting requirements. These metrics align with the critical material topics within the Disclosure Director and the associated KPI library, meaning existing metrics can be leveraged whenever possible, reducing redundancy.
This integration is a game-changer for our subscribers, helping them efficiently manage the massive data management demands of the CSRD and extract real business value from their sustainability reporting efforts.
By joining other previously embedded frameworks (GRI, CDP, SASB, BRSR, and TCFD) and offering customisable framework options, Benchmark Gensuite provides the most comprehensive corporate sustainability reporting capability.
The integration of the ESRS framework provides the following powerful capabilities for Benchmark Gensuite subscribers:
- The platform streamlines the complexity of the ESRS into an automated workflow. Materiality can be defined, dates and responsibilities assigned, and data collection progress monitored to provide complete oversight and control of the reporting process. This dramatically reduces the learning curve and resource allocation required to meet ESRS reporting requirements.
- Data controls ensure data quality, providing the investment-grade quality and audit trail required by the CSRD.
- Companies can quickly sort through the applicability of clauses. Where the ESRS states that companies “can”, “may”, or “should” report on topics, users will be able to determine and assign materiality and ensure data is collected only where relevant.
- Workflow dashboards provide program managers instant oversight on data collection progress and allow follow-up for lagging or overdue data.
- The detailed organisational model within the platform allows reporting obligations to be matched precisely to site operational profiles, ensuring each part of the business reports only on topics material to their activities.
- Built-in ESRS reporting templates allow the generation of reporting output at the push of a button for inclusion in corporate reporting or export to other stakeholders.
With this newly released capability, specifically designed to address ESRS requirements head-on, companies now have a practical and effective tool to meet their reporting obligations. The impact extends far beyond compliance, delivering tangible business benefits in terms of improved transparency, reliability, accountability, and the generation of insights to enhance operational performance management.
Streamlining your sustainability reporting process with Benchmark Gensuite frees up valuable time and resources to focus more on sustainability strategy and less on data management, ultimately boosting efficiency and productivity.
The CSRD represents a substantial reporting burden for companies. However, those who effectively manage the obligation stand to gain significant business value by identifying risk and opportunity and ensuring the organisation is well-positioned to address the swiftly changing demands of the business landscape.
Our seamless integration of the ESRS framework into the Benchmark Gensuite platform simplifies CSRD reporting, empowering organisations to drive performance improvement across their entire operation and build trust with all stakeholders.
The ESRS framework is already live and operational in Disclosure Director and is actively used by some leading subscribers. Learn more by registering today for our upcoming webinar on Friday, 8 December, and see it in action yourself!
If you want to kick-start your CSRD reporting journey, contact us today! We’re here to discuss how we can assist you in getting started. Let’s embark on this transformative sustainability journey together.
