All Things Sustainable (formerly ESG Insider)

How EU proposals could change the sustainability reporting landscape

7 snips

Mar 14, 2025

Guest

Andreas Rasche

Guest

Marc Rotter

This podcast features Marc Rotter, Counsel at Ropes & Gray, and Andreas Rasche, Professor at Copenhagen Business School. They dive into the European Commission's proposals aimed at simplifying sustainability reporting, highlighting how these changes could reduce burdens for SMEs while raising concerns about data availability for investors. Rotter discusses the uncertain legislative timeline, while Rasche emphasizes the risks of limited ESG data for making informed investment decisions. Together, they shed light on the evolving landscape of corporate sustainability transparency.

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ADVICE

CSRD Reporting Advice

Large companies impacted by new scoping standards should continue their sustainability reporting efforts.
Smaller companies potentially out of scope may choose to pause, depending on their resources and other obligations.

INSIGHT

Investor Impact

The proposed changes mean less comparable ESG data for investors, impacting industry benchmarking.
Voluntary reporting may not fully compensate for this data gap.

INSIGHT

Simplification Rationale

The European Commission aims to simplify the sustainable finance framework due to complexity concerns and feedback from national governments.
Cost savings will be achieved mainly by reducing the scope of companies required to report.

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In this episode of the All Things Sustainable podcast, we're unpacking new proposals to simplify sustainability reporting in Europe.

Released in February 2025, the European Commission's Omnibus Simplification Package would drastically reduce the number of companies subject to corporate sustainability reporting requirements in a bid to slash red tape, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The proposals include measures to simplify the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the EU Taxonomy.

If adopted, the proposals could alter the sustainability reporting landscape for companies doing business in the EU. We speak to Marc Rotter, counsel at law firm Ropes & Gray, who explains why the timeline for the legislative process remains uncertain and could last several months.

We talk to Andreas Rasche, Professor of Business in Society at the Centre for Sustainability at Copenhagen Business School, who explains how the proposals could change investor access to data.

“For investors that, at the end of the day, means less data by less companies. And I think it should be a legitimate concern to investors as it limits access to comparable and also reliable ESG data,” Andreas says of the proposals.

And we hear from Aleksandra Palinska, Executive Director of Eurosif, a European forum that promotes sustainable investment.

This piece was published by S&P Global Sustainable1, a part of S&P Global.

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