A new study highlights the struggle that UK and French companies face with ESG data accuracy and management under the EU’s CSRD.
With the EU poised to simplify sustainability regulations by February 2025, many businesses are still wary of the existing guidelines’ complexity, according to Yahoo Finance.
The research surveyed 1,000 IT and data executives, revealing that while two-thirds of companies are gearing up to meet audit and reporting deadlines within a year, a quarter doubt the reliability of their ESG data. Only 27% feel confident in their data management systems to meet the stringent reporting requirements set by the CSRD.
Interestingly, the study shows a shift in responsibility for CSRD compliance towards IT departments, with 68% of respondents viewing roles like chief data officers and chief information officers as crucial. This reflects a growing recognition of IT’s role in ensuring data integrity for sustainability reporting. Conversely, only 54% see senior sustainability officers as responsible, and a mere one-third involve their CFOs, despite the financial stakes of compliance.
In efforts to improve their readiness, over two-thirds of the businesses intend to allocate more than 10% of their annual IT budgets to enhance data management for CSRD compliance, with 26% spending over 20%.
Hervé Chapron, Semarchy EMEA global sales & global manager SVP, emphasized the importance of reliable data management. “With regulatory uncertainty and rising expectations around sustainability reporting, many organisations view compliance as a significant hurdle,” Chapron said. “Most companies already collect the data they need for CSRD compliance; adopting centralised, scalable tools allows them to meet regulatory and business deadlines with minimal disruption.”
This backdrop sets the stage for the Omnibus Simplification Package under the EU Green Deal, aimed at reducing the reporting burden by up to 45% for SMEs, focusing on the EU Taxonomy, CSRD, and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). The CSRD, effective since 5 January 2023, seeks to enhance the transparency of social and environmental data reported by companies.
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