Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is European Union legislation requiring companies within its applicable scope to report specified sustainability information under European Sustainability Reporting Standards. It amends EU accounting and audit legislation, includes assurance and digital-reporting provisions, and applies according to the directive’s current scope, transposition, exemptions, and timetable.
In simple terms
As of 2026-08-12, the CSRD framework originates in Directive (EU) 2022/2464 and has been changed by later EU legislation, including the timing amendment in Directive (EU) 2025/794 and the scope and simplification amendments in Directive (EU) 2026/470. Companies that remain in scope report material sustainability impacts, risks, and opportunities using applicable ESRS. Entity-level coverage depends on the amended rules, national transposition, group structure, exemptions, and reporting year; the current legal text controls.
Why it matters
The CSRD shapes which sustainability information covered companies place in their management reports and how that information is prepared, assured, and digitally presented. Its double-materiality approach connects financial sustainability risks and opportunities with impacts on people and the environment. The resulting disclosures can inform human rights due diligence. Because scope and standards have changed, readers need a dated explanation rather than a timeless checklist.
Example
For example, a fictional EU parent first tests its group against the thresholds, exemptions, transition provisions, and national law applicable to its reporting year. If it is in scope, it identifies material impacts, risks, and opportunities and prepares the required management-report disclosures under the ESRS then in force. This example does not determine any real company’s obligations.
How it differs
European Sustainability Reporting Standards
The CSRD is the EU legislative framework that creates sustainability-reporting duties; the European Sustainability Reporting Standards specify the information and reporting requirements used to meet those duties.
IFRS S1
The CSRD is EU legislation with scope and transposition rules; IFRS S1 is an ISSB disclosure standard whose use depends on adoption or requirement in the relevant jurisdiction.
References
Current status
- As of
- Issuer
- European Union
- Jurisdiction
- European Union
- Instrument or version
- Directive (EU) 2022/2464, as amended
- Status
- In force; current scope and timing reflect later EU amendments.
Applicability: Applicability depends on the amended rules, national transposition, group structure, exemptions, and reporting year; the current legal text controls.