European risk managers and businesses leaders have been told there are strategic opportunities within the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Designed to coincide with the first anniversary of the reporting requirements under the directive, European risk management association FERMA has issued a new study which examines practical implications for risk managers.

The report, Implementation of the CSRD – First Year Lessons from Risk Managers’ Perspective, developed by  FERMA in conjunction with Protiviti follows the first wave of reporting.

Commenting on the findings, Valentina Paduano, chair of FERMA sustainability committee and co-supervisor of the report said: “Risk managers played a key role in the reporting process, applying their expertise in risk identification, evaluation, and management to the sustainability reporting framework. By adapting ERM methodologies for sustainability analysis, they emerged as both compliance enablers and strategic contributors to corporate sustainability goals.”

A key focus of the study is to assess the application of risk practices in the context of Double Materiality Assessment (DMA), a core component of the reporting requirements under CSRD.

Key findings of the report relating to DMA include:

• A large majority of the companies examined leveraged ERM processes as a foundation for conducting the DMA, with 60% using their ERM Risk Register as a key input to develop the initial long list of risks and opportunities to be evaluated within the DMA framework.
• Only 15% of companies used different time horizons from those suggested by the CSRD, primarily choosing time horizons aligned with their strategic/industrial plans.
• Regarding the number of material risks identified, 10% of companies reported fewer than five risks, 25% identified between five and ten risks, the majority (35%) reported between eleven and twenty risks, while 25% disclosed more than twenty risks.
• The top three most disclosed risks are: operational disruptions caused by weather events that could damage assets, non-compliance and/or tightening of pollution regulations, and risk that business partners along the supply chain may not fully comply with ethical and social standards.

The study also explores developments relating to climate change risk assessment and internal control systems (ICS) for sustainability reporting under CSRD.

In terms of identifying climate-related risks and opportunities, the study finds that 90% of companies had already conducted a Climate Change Risk Assessment prior to the entry into force of CSRD. Further, the report noted that the climate scenarios most referenced were closely aligned with established pathways from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and International Energy Agency (IEA) frameworks.

Focusing on ICS, the research shows that most companies disclosed general information on their ICS, of which 74% adopted a formal ICS on sustainability reporting for the first year of CSRD reporting. 55% also disclosed the main risks related to sustain ability reporting, including delays and incompleteness in information flows, data errors and poor information quality and weaknesses in data collection and entry processes.

FERMA added while the report highlights the challenges posed by the CSRD – which include the significant operational burden of new reporting practices – it supports a view of the directive as a strategic opportunity rather than a mere compliance exercise.

Philippe Cotelle, president of FERMA, added: “This new approach may require further refinement to establish a structured interaction, evolve existing ERM processes by integrating a clear assessment of opportunities alongside risks, ensuring precise definitions of opportunities to reduce the risk of misinterpretation and incorporate evaluations across multiple time horizons, with particular attention to the long term. Together, these efforts support an integrated reporting and control system that ensures compliance while enhancing risk management and value creation.”