Posted on October, 18 2023

Today, the European Parliament rejected a motion aimed at scrapping the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) put forward by a group of over 40 Members of the European Parliament, and largely supported by the European People's Party (EPP). These standards mandate sustainability disclosures for approximately 50,000 companies, with the goal of enhancing transparency in corporate sustainability reporting including on climate or nature.

The ESRS, which implements the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, have already been considerably weakened compared to the November 2022 proposal by multi-stakeholder experts in the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group, of which WWF is a member. This proposal was the result of a 3-year process, including inputs from various actors, including business, financial market actors and civil society.

Sébastien Godinot, Senior Economist at WWF European Policy Office said: 

“MEPs have safeguarded the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, a vital tool for improving transparency on companies’ sustainability performance. By standing firm against this attempt to kill the standards, MEPs have pushed back yet another indirect attack on the Green Deal, ensuring that European companies are not penalised in their critical transition towards a greener future. Backward-looking views against the green transition have once again been defeated”.