CSRD / ESRS Sustainability Topics (Matters)
Together with the CSRD Delegated Act 31.07.2023 twelve ESRS standards were released that contain sustainability topics supporting companies detecting their Material Matters through a process called Double Materiality Assessment.
Sustainability topic is called Material matter when it turns out that company's operation is causing significant impact to nature and/or people in the light of the given sustainability topic. Alternatively when chaining wold around the company is causing significant risks to the company's financial situation in short, mid or long term.
Out of these twelve standards two first are mandatory for every company while the rest of the 10 are sector specific standards each of which might be more relevant for certain economic activities than another ones.
The sector specific standards are categorized into Environmental, Social and Governance topics: ESRS E1-E5 for Environmental, ESRS S1-S4 for Social and ESRS G1 for Governance
You need to consider the specific circumstances when determining the material matters for your organization. Where necessary you should develop entity-specific disclosures on material impacts, risks and opportunities not covered by ESRS.
| Topical ESRS | Topic | Sub-topic | Sub-sub-topics |
|---|---|---|---|
| ESRS E1 | Climate change | Climate change adaptation Climate change mitigation Energy |
|
| ESRS E2 | Pollution | Pollution of air Pollution of water Pollution of soil Pollution of living organisms and food resources Substances of concern Substances of very high concern Microplastics |
|
| ESRS E3 | Water and marine resources | Water Marine resources |
Water consumption Water withdrawals Water discharges Water discharges in the oceans Extraction and use of marine resources |
| ESRS E4 | Biodiversity and ecosystems | Direct impact drivers of biodiversity loss | Climate Change Land-use change, fresh water-use change and sea-use change Direct exploitation Invasive alien species Pollution Others |
| Impacts on the state of species | Examples: Species population size Species global extinction risk |
||
| Impacts on the extent and condition of ecosystems | Examples: Land degradation Desertification Soil sealing |
||
| Impacts and dependencies on ecosystem services | |||
| ESRS E5 | Circular economy | Resources inflows, including resource use Resource outflows related to products and services Waste |
|
| ESRS S1 | Own workforce | Working conditions | Secure employment Working time Adequate wages Social dialogue Freedom of association, the existence of works councils and the information, consultation and participation rights of workers Collective bargaining, including rate of workers covered by collective agreements Work-life balance Health and safety |
| Equal treatment and opportunities for all | Gender equality and equal pay for work of equal value Training and skills development Employment and inclusion of persons with disabilities Measures against violence and harassment in the workplace Diversity |
||
| Other work-related rights | Child labour Forced labour Adequate housing Privacy |
||
| ESRS S3 | Affected communities | Communities’ economic, social and cultural rights | Adequate housing Adequate food Water and sanitation Land-related impacts Security-related impacts |
| Communities’ civil and political rights | Freedom of expression Freedom of assembly Impacts on human rights defenders |
||
| Rights of indigenous peoples | Free, prior and informed consent Self-determination Cultural rights |
||
| ESRS S4 | Consumers and end-users | Information-related impacts for consumers and/or end-users | Privacy Freedom of expression Access to (quality) information |
| Personal safety of consumers and/or end-users | Health and safety Security of a person Protection of children |
||
| Social inclusion of consumers and/or end-users | Non-discrimination Access to products and services Responsible marketing practices |
||
| ESRS G1 | Business conduct | Corporate culture Protection of whistle-blowers Animal welfare Political engagement and lobbying activities Management of relationships with suppliers including payment |
|
| Corruption and bribery | Prevention and detection including training Incidents |
Ask Yourself
Which of these Sustainability Topics are relevant for My Business?
Follow us: