New European regulations are forcing more and more companies to report on sustainability in their annual reports. Although the obligation for Milgro will probably not apply until 2027, Milgro project leader Carla Wendt has already started working on the so-called Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive (CSRD). For a reason, several in fact. She talks about it. And wants to share her work done with customers.
You have immersed yourself in the CSRD recently. What struck you?
Yes, right. I went through the ESRS reporting standard, which is under the CSRD, three times in its entirety. Not exactly a document you like to read to your kids. It is 245 pages or so, full of complicated text, jargon and references. It falls into three parts; environmental, social and governance. The standard spells out exactly what topics you need to report on as an organization, and what data you need to collect to do so.
What do you think of the new reporting requirement for companies?
It is a good and, above all, almost complete set-up to encourage companies to be more sustainable. The CSRD does not mandate a minimum sustainability performance, but it does require transparency about it. That is the first step: measuring it. Then you can work as a company to improve your performance.
Milgro helps companies to get a grip on their natural capital flows. We do this by making those flows transparent. Sustainability and transparency are therefore part of us. Therefore, we believe that we ourselves must also work with the Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive (CSRD). Practice what you preach.
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CSRD starter kit: free download
But aren't you way too early?
You can say we are too early, but it is really important to start on time. You have to understand the standard and organize the collection of information well. Certainly with certain principles from the CSRD, such as that of double materiality, you have to gain experience. I want to give organizations that tip. And in addition: keep track of how much time you spend on it and document everything well. After all, employees can always leave an organization.
"Milgro has advanced its dashboard so that customers can surface the information requested for section E5-5 at the touch of a button."
Another argument for starting on time is because your customers do have an obligation to report under the CSRD. They have to collect information about their supply chain, so they are knocking on your door. It is an advantage if you can provide that information quickly.
By starting early, you have several years to gain experience in making an annual report without the obligation to make it public. You may find that you are not yet as sustainable in a particular area. Then you still have room to improve your performance.
For one component in the ESRS standard, Milgro is a specialist: waste management. What have you done with this?
It is about chapter E5: Resource use and circular economy. And specifically to the section that deals with waste. That's E5-5. Milgro has further developed its online dashboard so that our customers can get the information that is requested for that section at the push of a button. We can help our customers well with this, because we usually have the complete overview of the waste management of organizations.
So clients can meet an important part of the CSRD obligation through Milgro?
Exactly. We also provide our customers with information about the policy, goals and actions regarding waste management, which the directive also requires. Because in addition to a dashboard, we make annual plans for companies, containing ambitions and KPIs, such as the minimum separation percentage, the maximum amount of harmful waste or the processing method.
You now have a lot of experience with the CSRD. Can you get clients started?
Sure! To make the CSRD and ESRS standards clear, I processed all the data points from the reporting standard in a comprehensive Excel file. This is a lot of work, but absolutely convenient. You can see exactly what data to collect and you can filter and sort by data points. And you can keep track of your work. It provides the basis for information collection and can kickstart your CSRD project. I am happy to share the basic file along with a handy checklist. Interested in this CSRD starter kit? Click on the link below.
Free CSRD starter kit
Wilt u vast voorbereid zijn op de CSRD? Download dan nu onze handige toolkit. Hierin zit een Excel-basisbestand met alle datapunten waarop u moet meten voor de CSRD. Daarnaast vindt u ook een handige checklist in de kit.
