European sustainability reporting standards: An assessment of requirements and preparedness of EU companies

Leal Filho, Walter; Wall, Tony; Williams, Kent; Pimenta Dinis, Maria Alzira; Fernandez Martin, Rosa Maria; Mazhar, Muhammad; Gatto, Andrea

Abstract

The newly released European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) are a distinctively holistic legal instrument designed to enhance the disclosure of the sustainability performance of companies across the European Union (EU). However, there is currently a lack of evidence as what the standards are and how prepared companies are to comply with the ESRS. Through an analysis of secondary sources for 20 EU companies, this study therefore aimed to identify the preparedness of EU-based companies. Results indicate that there is substantial variation in preparedness; larger firms exhibit higher levels of alignment with the ESRS, whereas small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) struggle with resource limitations and insufficient external support. This timely and unique study contributes novel insights into the variable preparedness of companies transitioning to new, EU-wide compliance standards, and the factors involved in large-scale implementation. Such insights provide direct implications for regional-level policy implementation.

Citation

Leal Filho, W., Wall, T., Williams, K., Pimenta Dinis, M. A., Fernandez Martin, R. M., Mazhar, M., & Gatto, A. (2025). European sustainability reporting standards: An assessment of requirements and preparedness of EU companies. Journal of Environmental Management, 380, 9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125008

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 13, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Mar 18, 2025
• Publication Date: Mar 18, 2025
• Deposit Date: Mar 19, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 27, 2025
• Journal: Journal of Environmental Management
• Print ISSN: 0301-4797
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 380
• Article Number: 125008
• Pages: 9
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.125008
• Keywords: CSR, ESRS, Sustainability reporting, EU, ESG, Disclosure
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1108920