Exploring the interoperability of global frameworks with KEY ESG

Heleen opened the session by underscoring a common challenge: companies must comply with a patchwork of sustainability regulations and voluntary standards across jurisdictions. Against today’s backdrop of evolving and emerging sustainability regulations, aligning multiple frameworks – CSRD, IFRS S1/S2, TNFD, the UK’s SRS and others – has never been more critical. The panellists agreed that “interoperability” – the ability of these standards to work together – is important for businesses, as it helps them meet the compliance requirements more easily, freeing up resource for the real work of driving environmental and social impact.

Sarah-Jane Denton, drawing on her experience advising companies on TCFD, CSRD and sustainability more generally, reinforced the practical and legal similarities but also differences between the regimes. She outlined steps companies can take now to prepare for the incoming UK Sustainability Reporting Standards and other ISSB-based disclosures, ensuring governance structures are robust enough to adapt as standards converge, and focusing on producing high quality data and narratives for sustainability reports, which will be common across reporting frameworks.

Anna Dauteuil shared insights from EFRAG’s work on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and specifically the revision of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). In providing the background the ESRS simplification, she stressed that CSRD reporting is designed not to be a compliance exercise but a strategic tool to integrate sustainability into core business decision-making. Anna emphasised the importance of (ongoing) stakeholder engagement: EFRAG received nearly 1,500 comments from over 400 stakeholders during the recent consultation and is carefully weighing this feedback to make further improvements to the standards prior to submission to the European Commission.

Pendar Ostovar described how the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is developing a more sophisticated approach, shifting from focusing solely on absolute emission reductions to incorporating alignment targets for financial institutions. Rather than simply selling high-emitting assets to meet portfolio-wide carbon reduction goals – an action that simply shifts emissions rather than having real-economy impact – SBTi encourages banks and investors to exercise responsible stewardship, helping high-emitting companies to better align with a low carbon economy. Pendar detailed the SBTi’s newest set of standards: the Financial Institutions Net Zero Standards, which has been developed with the unique requirements of the financial services sector in mind.

Sebastian Leape addressed the still relatively new concept of “nature reporting” – where nature is to be understood broadly, including waste management, land use and water. Sebastian gave practical insights on how to measure impacts on nature – not via a common single metric (as greenhouse gas emissions is in climate reporting), but by using the LEAP framework which is central to reporting under the Task Force on Nature Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). Understanding nature impacts and, critically, dependencies will also enable better reporting by entities under ESRS E2 to E5, which overlap with TNFD.

A recurring theme was the tension between the time companies spend on reporting and their ability to deliver real sustainability outcomes. It was observed that some organisations are so consumed by regulatory reporting that resources for on-the-ground action are stretched. Yet all panellists agreed that reporting and driving impact are “two sides of the same coin,” and that well-designed standards should encourage entities to embed sustainability into business strategy, not distract from it.

Technology providers like KEY ESG play a critical role in making sustainability reporting efficient and actionable. By automating data collection, integrating with existing systems and mapping single data points across multiple frameworks, technology platforms can reduce duplication and free up sustainability teams to focus on driving impact rather than just compliance.

The panel's comments can be summarised in the following practical guidance for companies:

• Engage in public consultations for standards like ESRS and UK’s SRS to help shape workable regulations which reflect lived experience of reporters.

• Take proportionate, early steps for upcoming regulatory changes (be it CSRD, California Climate Disclosure Laws or the UK’s SRS) by building the reporting processes, gathering key data and gaining buy-in across your organisations – all framework-agnostic steps.

• Integrate reporting with action, ensuring that data collection and reporting supports strategic decision-making, for better management of risk, improved resilience and real-world impact.