ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards)
The standards developed by EFRAG that CSRD-obligated companies must use to prepare their sustainability reports.
The European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) are the technical reporting framework that gives concrete shape to the CSRD's requirements. They were developed by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) and adopted by the European Commission as delegated acts. The ESRS define precisely which information companies must disclose, how it must be structured, and which indicators must be reported.
The standards are divided into cross-cutting standards (ESRS 1 and ESRS 2) and topic-specific standards covering the environment (E1–E5), social affairs (S1–S4), and governance (G1). ESRS 1 sets out the general principles; ESRS 2 covers general disclosures applicable to all companies. The topic-specific standards — for example, ESRS E1 on climate change or ESRS S1 on own workforce — specify detailed reporting requirements for each sustainability area.
An important feature of the ESRS is their close integration with the double materiality principle: companies must first conduct a materiality assessment to determine which topics are relevant to them. Only material topics require full reporting in line with the relevant standard. This makes the reporting process proportionate, but also demanding in terms of the analytical work required upfront.
Legal Basis
Directive (EU) 2022/2464 (CSRD); EU Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772; EFRAG technical guidelines
Practical Example
A logistics company prepares its first CSRD-compliant sustainability report. During its materiality assessment it identifies climate change (ESRS E1) and working conditions in its own operations (ESRS S1) as the most relevant topics. It therefore focuses its reporting efforts on these two standards, documenting its CO₂ reduction targets, energy consumption data, and employee safety figures. A compliance platform helps structure the data collection and map it to the specific ESRS disclosure requirements.