From disclosure to action: CSRD and science-based targets for nature
In 2025, many EU-based companies will have to publicly disclose their impacts and dependencies on nature for the first time. This is because of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), an ambitious directive designed to improve the quality and consistency of non-financial reporting by companies, including on nature. CSRD aims to improve transparency around non-financial risks and opportunities, as part of the European Green Deal.
Companies will be looking for resources they can use to help ensure their CSRD disclosures are rigorous, and that the exercise can generate value for their company. In this context, we have written an introductory piece on how the CSRD and science-based targets (SBTs) for nature can work together to support companies in achieving their sustainability goals.
We outline how, complementing CSRD, SBTN empowers companies to actively address their impacts and quantify their contributions to nature-positive outcomes.
- Inform disclosures: Science-based targets for nature offer a rigorous and prescriptive approach (e.g., to materiality assessments) that generates data and insights that can inform companies’ CSRD disclosures.
- Beyond disclosures: While CSRD is focused on disclosure of impacts, SBTN goes a step further by providing a clear, science-based framework that empowers companies to actively address their impacts, showing how much action to take, where, and when, based on what nature needs.
- Long-term value: Setting science-based targets for nature helps companies build the capacity and resilience needed to adapt to emerging trends and stay ahead of future regulatory requirements, creating enduring value for the business.
We are grateful to the following subject matter experts for their contributions: Sam Sinclair and Peter McCann from Biodiversify, Carly Sibilia and Beatrice Boarolo from ERM, Stefan Jimenez from Deloitte & Touche LLP, and Guillaume Wahl and Christopher Rannou from WWF.
