EU directive requiring large companies, including insurers, to publish detailed, audited sustainability reporting, replacing the earlier non-financial reporting requirement.
The CSRD extends and strengthens sustainability reporting obligations for large European companies, including significant insurers and reinsurers, replacing the earlier non-financial reporting declaration with a report structured around detailed technical standards, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. Three changes clearly distinguish it from the previous regime: the number of companies in scope rises sharply as application thresholds are lowered, the required content becomes far more granular and standardized rather than left to each company's discretion, and crucially the report must now be audited by an independent third party, progressively aligning it with the reliability expected of a financial report. For an insurer, the CSRD means documenting not only its own emissions and governance, but also, through the double materiality principle, the impact of its underwriting and investment activities on climate and society, an obligation that directly overlaps with data already collected for the green Taxonomy and voluntary climate alliances. Application rolls out in successive waves by company size, starting with the 2024 financial year.
Starting with the 2024 financial year, the largest listed insurers in Europe had to publish their first sustainability report compliant with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, audited by an independent auditor on the same footing as their financial accounts.
CSRD, reporting extra-financier européen, directive reporting durabilité