Shades of Green: A Tentative Assessment of the CSRD’s Potential Effects

The introduction of the CSRD represents the largest regulatory intervention in external reporting in decades. Sustainability statements now have to be issued in accordance with the ESRS, which include numerous Disclosure Requirements and datapoints, and prepared in a standardized, machine-readable format. As part of the management report, the sustainability statement has to be audited. The CSRD is expected to enhance transparency (capital market channel) and to strengthen ESG performance (real effects channel), but companies will face significant challenges such as incomplete regulations and high implementation costs. However, the actual impact of the new regulations regarding sustainability reporting has yet to be fully assessed.