Board members, are you ready for CSRD?

The EU has signed the Paris Agreement and is now working to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. To accomplish that the strategy A green deal was launched in December 2019 and as a part of this the new EU directives, CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) is also launched. The directive will soon become incorporated into all member states' own laws and force large and middle size companies to comply with the regulation. 

The previous sustainability reporting law in Sweden was very vague, which often resulted in companies showing good examples in a pamphlet looking like advertising more than reporting. Now there will be a proper tightening of the reporting and it goes from being a request for behavioral change, to a matter of compliance. CSRD is probably the biggest change in accounting in several hundred years.

So, what are the biggest changes? The sustainable reporting:

·  gets the same status as financial reporting.

·  is standardized and will be the same for all companies.

·  will be presented in the management report.

·  will be transparently presented on the web page in a digitized format.

·  will be audited by an independent auditor.

And perhaps the most interesting is that the company’s strategy shall be aligned with the Paris Agreement and the board is responsible for the reporting and the progress of the targets. It shall also be described in the management report how the board have been upskilled to be able to take on the new responsibilities. All these changes are implemented very fast and will put high demands in the boardroom.

So, if you are a board member it is time to take a course in CSRD and sustainable development. We have one course session booked for 14th of November, read more and apply on our website.