ESG Reporting Academy

Participants gain a clear understanding of the evolving European sustainability regulatory landscape – including the CSRD and the recent Omnibus developments – and the policy objectives behind it. They learn how sustainability reporting fits into the broader EU sustainability agenda and how the financial system serves as a lever for the transition towards a sustainable economy. Participants also explore why European sustainability regulation extends across global value chains and how measures such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) complement the regulatory framework and support its effectiveness.
The ESG Academy reflects the latest developments in the EU sustainability reporting framework, including the CSRD Omnibus reforms and the 2026 revised ESRS.

• European Green Deal and the EU sustainability policy agenda
• The role of sustainability disclosure and sustainable finance in achieving EU policy objectives
• The European sustainability regulatory landscape: CSRD/ESRS, EU Taxonomy, SFDR, CSDDD and related initiatives
• Importance of global value chains, carbon leakage and CBAM
• Corporate and management implications of the evolving regulatory landscape

Participants learn how the ESRS are structured and how ESRS 1, ESRS 2 and the topical standards work together. They understand double materiality as a core principle of ESRS reporting and can apply key approaches and steps of a double materiality assessment to identify relevant impacts, risks and opportunities (IROs). Participants also learn how an ESRS sustainability statement is structured and how general and topical disclosures connect. By comparing ESRS with VSME, GRI and ISSB, they understand key similarities and differences between the frameworks – and why interoperability matters for efficient and meaningful sustainability reporting.

• Conceptual principles and fundamental structure of the ESRS
• Double materiality and its practical application, including value-chain considerations and the value-chain cap
• General disclosures requirements under ESRS 2
• Structure of ESRS sustainability statements
• Comparison of ESRS with VSME/the 2026 Voluntary Standard, GRI and ISSB
• Interoperability between sustainability reporting standards
• Mapping of reporting requirements across different standards
• Key similarities, differences and practical challenges

Participants learn how climate-related impacts, risks and opportunities translate into reporting requirements under ESRS E1 – and why robust carbon accounting is essential to meet them. They understand the relevance of Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and learn how frameworks such as the GHG Protocol, ISO standards and GLEC support the measurement and estimation of emissions across the value chain. Participants can apply these concepts to selected carbon accounting challenges and gain insight into the financial sector perspective, including how PCAF is used to measure financed emissions.

• Climate-related impacts, risks and opportunities (IROs) under ESRS E1 
• Carbon accounting and its role in climate-related reporting 
• Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions across the value chain 
• Measuring and estimating greenhouse gas emissions: GHG Protocol, ISO standards and the GLEC Framework and their interaction with ESRS E1
• Practical carbon accounting challenges and applications 
• Financed emissions and the financial sector perspective: PCAF Standard for measuring and disclosing financed emissions

Participants learn how to identify and assess material environmental impacts, risks and opportunities across pollution, water and marine resources, biodiversity and ecosystems, and resource use and circular economy. Using the LEAP approach – Locate, Evaluate, Assess and Prepare – they explore a practical framework for identifying environmental dependencies and impacts and translating them into material sustainability matters. Participants understand the key disclosure requirements of ESRS E2–E5 and become familiar with core concepts such as substances of concern, ecosystem dependencies and circular economy principles. They also explore how the ESRS connect to established international frameworks and initiatives, such as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and how selected frameworks and tools can support the practical assessment, measurement and management of environmental sustainability matters.

• Environmental impacts, risks and opportunities under ESRS E2–E5 
• Applying the LEAP approach to identify and assess material environmental matters  (pollution, water and marine resources, biodiversity and ecosystems, and circular economy)
• Disclosure requirements under ESRS E2–E5  and discussion of key concepts including substances of concern, ecosystem dependencies and 
• International frameworks and initiatives, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and circular economy principles
• Digital Battery Passport as a practical example of circular economy, traceability and value-chain data requirements 

Participants learn to look beyond their own workforce and understand why affected stakeholders, vulnerability and the value chain are central to the ESRS social standards. They explore how these considerations shape the identification of material impacts, risks and opportunities – and what this means for reporting under ESRS S1–S4, including the specific disclosure requirements of the social standards. Participants also understand how ESRS reporting connects with corporate due diligence and the evolving CSDDD framework, gaining a practical perspective on how companies can identify, manage and report social impacts across their operations and value chains.

• Affected stakeholders and the logic of the ESRS social standards (S1–S4) 
• Identifying material social impacts, risks and opportunities: vulnerability, stakeholder perspectives and the value chain 
• Own workforce, value-chain workers, affected communities and consumers 
• Key disclosure requirements under ESRS S1–S4, with a focus on ESRS S1 
• Corporate due diligence and the CSDDD 
• Linking stakeholder engagement, due diligence, materiality assessment and reporting

Participants learn why effective ESG governance starts at the top – with clear responsibilities, oversight and the integration of sustainability into corporate strategy and decision-making – but only becomes effective when it is embedded in organizational structures, processes and checks and balances. They explore how the ESRS general disclosures make this governance dimension visible and how responsibilities, internal processes, performance management and executive incentives can translate sustainability ambitions into action and accountability. Drawing on evidence on ESG-linked executive compensation, participants critically assess the opportunities and limitations of incentive-based approaches. They also understand the specific requirements of ESRS G1 and how business ethics, anti-corruption, whistleblowing and responsible business conduct contribute to an effective and credible governance framework.

• ESG governance: roles, responsibilities, processes and checks and balances 
• Sustainability governance under the ESRS 2 general disclosures
• Integrating sustainability into strategy, decision-making and organizational processes 
• Performance management, controls and ESG-linked executive incentives 
• ESRS G1 and responsible business conduct: Business ethics, anti-corruption, whistleblowing and compliance mechanisms

Participants change perspective and explore how investors, banks and other financial-market participants use sustainability disclosures to assess and finance economic activities. They learn how the EU Taxonomy provides a common framework for identifying environmentally sustainable economic activities and how this classification feeds into corporate disclosures, banks’ Green Asset Ratio (GAR) and financing instruments such as European Green Bonds. Participants also explore how the SFDR translates sustainability information into disclosure requirements for financial-market participants, including the use of ESRS-related information in Principal Adverse Impact (PAI) statements. By connecting corporate reporting with sustainable finance regulation, they understand how sustainability information flows through the financial system and influences investment, lending and capital-market decisions.

• Sustainability disclosures from a financial-market perspective 
• EU Taxonomy: classification of environmentally sustainable economic activities and related disclosures 
• EU Taxonomy in practice: Green Asset Ratio (GAR) and European Green Bonds 
• Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and financial-market participants
• Principal Adverse Impact (PAI) statements and the use of sustainability information 
• Connecting ESRS reporting, sustainable finance regulation and financial-market decisions

Participants learn how ESG-related risks and opportunities can be integrated into Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and established management systems, drawing on frameworks such as COSO and ISO 14001 and 9001. They explore one of the key challenges in practice: translating material sustainability matters into an assessment of their potential financial effects. As these effects often depend on uncertain and changing future conditions, participants learn how scenario analysis can help companies understand the range and variability of possible outcomes. They also explore where scenario-based approaches are embedded in the ESRS and how they can support more resilient strategies, risk management and decision-making. The module brings the ESG academy full circle – from identifying and reporting sustainability matters to actively integrating them into corporate management.

• From ESG to ERM: integrating sustainability risks and opportunities into Enterprise Risk Management and established management systems such as COSO, ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 
• From materiality to financial effects: assessing how material sustainability matters translate into financial risks and opportunities 
• Managing uncertainty: using scenario analysis to capture the variability of potential financial effects and meet relevant ESRS requirements 
• From reporting to management: using sustainability insights to strengthen risk management, strategy and corporate decision-making