Attention, medium-sized businesses! A giant wave is rolling toward you: the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD for short) is massively expanding the requirements for sustainability reporting. CSRD might sound rather abstract at first, but in concrete terms, it means that companies with more than 500 employees will soon have to submit a precise sustainability report year after year. Among other things, you will have to explain how you are progressing on the path to Net Zero, how far along you are in terms of the circular economy, and what is happening in your supply chain worldwide—all of this rock-solid and verified by auditors. In short, hard facts are required on topics that many companies have previously approached in a rather vague and flowery way.
An estimated 15,000 companies are affected. And the crazy thing is: many smaller companies still have no idea that they will be affected by the directive—and to what extent.
One person who has a refreshingly clear idea is Carolin Friedrich. Carolin is the managing director of the agency Stakeholder Reporting, has been designing sustainability reports for 20 years, and is considered one of the most knowledgeable experts in this field. With Stakeholder Reporting, she is currently supporting the sustainability reporting of corporations such as Deutsche Telekom, Fresenius, and Mercedes, as well as that of many smaller medium-sized enterprises.
In this episode of Sustainable Brand Stories, Carolin explains to us what companies are now facing, how complex sustainability reporting is becoming—and why all of this is no reason for panic, but rather good news for both companies and society.