The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) has been in force since January 2023 and requires companies to report on sustainability if they meet two of the following three criteria:
- The company employs more than 250 people.
- The company generates a turnover of more than 50 million euros
- The company has a balance sheet total of more than 25 million euros.
If two or all three of the above points apply to a company, it must submit a report on its sustainability from 2026 for the previous financial year 2025. The uniform standards of the CSRD Directive are intended to make companies’ sustainability disclosures more transparent and comparable.
Know the CSRD focal points
Sustainability issues are becoming increasingly important for companies. The market for products and services will be increasingly geared towards sustainability aspects. The EU’s CSRD Directive sets the major sustainability priorities for companies and formulates corresponding criteria that must be reported on.
The requirements for CSRD reports are complex. They are particularly challenging for companies that have not previously reported. Content requirements, methods and processes are new and most companies first have to learn them. This not only affects companies that are required to report, but also their business partners in the supply chain. Banks are also subject to this regulation. In future, loans and investments will be based on CSRD criteria. It is therefore advisable for every company to at least know the main features of the CSRD priorities.
At the same time, this knowledge offers opportunities to adapt business models, initiate innovations and position themselves on the market with sustainable, CSRD-compliant offerings. Interviews with Stuttgart-based companies in the run-up to the event have shown that there is great demand for a support program for the new CSRD directive. The City of Stuttgart has therefore decided to support companies on this path together with Wirtschaftsförderung Region Stuttgart GmbH.
Offers of the “CSRD Support” funding program
Our workshop series
Thinking Circles
Knowledge Sessions
Network meeting
Kick-off in 2023
At the kick-off event for the “CSRD Support” funding program for Stuttgart-based companies on May 10, 2023, there was exciting input from experts at Stuttgart City Hall. Sustainability researcher Prof. Dr. André Reichel, for example, reported on sustainable business models. Prof. Dr. Kerstin Lopatta from the EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Board provided information on CSRD development and implementation.
