Questions & Answers

Is the ESRS 1 Disclosure Requirement SBM-3 metric to be reported for ESRS E4 if biodiversity was assessed as not material for the company’s own operations but material only for the upstream value chain? The SBM-3 metric specifically refers to the company’s own sites, i.e. own operations. Additionally, no sites were found located in or near biodiversity-sensitive areas that have negative impacts on these areas.

ESRS E4-5 paragraph 37 mentions that ‘For datapoints specified in paragraphs 38 to 41, the undertaking shall consider its own operations’. Does that mean that ESRS E4 paragraph 33 where it says ‘The undertaking shall report metrics related to its material impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems’ also refers to the undertaking’s own operations only?

ID 1033: In the context of ESRS E1 paragraph 34 (a) and in a situation where a credit institution has set GHG emissions intensity targets, are credit institutions expected to provide associated absolute values in relation to their emissions intensity targets even if such metric is not used to steer the portfolio and due to the fact that it can be neither predictive or of confirmatory value due to the business model of the credit institutions?

ID 1076: Would it be possible for a financial institution to disclose GHG emissions targets set on Scope 3 category 15 (i.e. ‘financed emissions’) without reporting the corresponding targets in absolute emissions?’

ID 1122: Regarding absolute values for financial institutions – why not show exposure and exposure percentages instead of GHG emissions?’

What is the definition of ‘projects’ in ESRS E1 paragraph 56 (a)? Is this related to investments / asset-driven initiatives which establish a new facility, process, technology and the like?

If the company has an intensity-emission-reduction target already set with a different base year than the ESRS recommend (e.g. 2021) but no absolute target yet, is it okay to use the same base year as for the intensity target although it does not follow the ESRS recommendation?

Which indicators are to be used to convert fossil fuels to kWh (gasoline, diesel, natural gas)?

(1) If water consumption is only deemed material for the value chain (and not material to own operations), is the undertaking still allowed to include this datapoint in its sustainability statement?

(2) If water consumption is not material for the undertaking (neither in relation to IROs that arise in own operations nor for those that arise in upstream and downstream value chain) but third parties ask the undertaking to include this datapoint in its sustainability statement, is this allowed?

Concerning the sites located in or near biodiversity-sensitive areas that the undertaking is negatively affecting, the undertaking has to disclose the number of sites and their area. Does the undertaking have to disclose the total area of the site or just the area inside or near the biodiversity-sensitive area?

Many datapoints in the S1 have to be broken down by gender. Which definition of ‘gender’ is used in the ESRS? Is it only the female-male categories or should answers contain a third, ‘diverse’ category or more categories when breaking down information by gender?

The guideline stipulates that deviations of more than 5% per employee category must be justified. How are these categories defined? If the reporting pay demonstrates a difference in the average pay level of at least 5 % in any category of workers, the employer needs to justify such a difference on the basis of objective, gender-neutral criteria – otherwise, joint pay assessment is necessary.

(1) Shall a matter included in the financial statements of the undertaking that is outside of its value chain be reported in the undertaking’s financial materiality assessment?

(2) There is uncertainty as to whether a PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) would enter the scope of the value chain of the undertaking, and more specifically, (i) in the case of a VPPA and (ii) in the case of a DPPA.

Does gender pay gap only have to be calculated for ‘female’ and ‘male’ genders? If so, where should employees who have specified a different gender be categorised? Or is the calculation based on the gender categories ‘female’, ‘male’, ‘diverse’/’other’?

We are trying to understand how changing the materiality of a sustainability matter over the three timeframes influences Disclosure Requirements e.g., whether the matter of water is deemed not material for the short- and medium-term impact materiality but material in the long-term. Does that mean the matter is deemed material and disclosure is required even though it only becomes material in the long-term?

(1) Is the ESRS 2 Disclosure Requirement GOV-3 on ‘the proportion of variable remuneration dependent on sustainability-related targets and/or impacts’ (ESRS 2 paragraph 29 (d)) calculated as a percentage of:

(a) variable remuneration;

(b) fixed remuneration; or

(c) total remuneration (fixed and variable)?

(2) Is the percentage to be disclosed under ESRS E1 Disclosure requirement related to ESRS 2 GOV-3 Integration of sustainability-related performance in incentive schemes based on the same denominator as under question (1) above?

What are the CSRD requirements regarding heating values (Lower Heating Value (LHV) versus Higher Heating value (HHV)), and do they differ based on the location of the preparer?

(1) Consider an undertaking that has a business plan approved for a three-year duration. The undertaking expects a given impact or risk to arise in four to five years and be material then. Shall the matter be considered material for the reporting period?

(2) Consider a matter that is not assessed to be material over the short-, medium- or long-term horizon as of the reporting date, but – if assessed in four to five years – it might become material in the future. Should the undertaking consider this topic as not-material or as material?

Is it mandatory to report a metric for each material impact on biodiversity and ecosystems?

(1) Should individuals on parental leave, long-term sick leave or long-term special leave who receive less than their regular total annual remuneration be excluded from the annual total remuneration calculation considering long-term leave as a consecutive period of at least three months?

(2) When computing the annual total remuneration, do we consider the same salary components for both the highest paid individual and the employees (e.g. benefits in cash / benefits in kind)?

Is a company obliged to disclose a discrimination/harassment case that, upon investigation, was found to lack conclusive evidence supporting the allegations (and hence was considered closed without any supporting evidence)?

Does an undertaking need to disclose the total number of incidents of corruption and the total number of incidents of bribery, or is there some additional data needed about the ‘nature’ of each type of incident?