The first set is made up of 12 standards (sector-agnostic): two “cross-cutting” of transversal interest and ten “topical” or specific to environmental, social and governance aspects.

 

Transversal:
ESRS 1: General requirements
ESRS 2: General disclosures

Environmental:
ESRS E1: Climate change
ESRS E2: Pollution
ESRS E3: Water and marine resources
ESRS E4: Biodiversity and ecosystems
ESRS E5: Resources use and circular economy

Social:
ESRS S1: Own work force
ESRS S2: Workers in the value chain
ESRS S3: Affected communities
ESRS S4: Consumers and end-users

Governance:
ESRS G1: Business conduct

 

EFRAG is also due to release a set of sector-specific standards.

 

The mainstay of ESRS is double materiality.

In fact, companies are on the one hand required to publish general mandatory disclosures (ESRS 2) and, on the other, to publish disclosures deemed relevant both financially and in terms of impact (double materiality).

 

By way of example, the disclosures required under standard ESRS E5 relating to “Resources use and circular economy” will be mandatory if this topic proves material in the double materiality assessment.

 

The standards have been designed in order to ensure interoperability with GRI Standards, but also to be coherent with the recommendations of the TCFD (Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures) and requirements of the EU Green Taxonomy and the Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence (CSDD).