Question-ID: 953

ESRS 1 paragraph 11 states: ‘In addition to the disclosure requirements laid down in the three categories of ESRS, when an undertaking concludes that an impact, risk or opportunity is not covered or not covered with sufficient granularity by an ESRS but is material due to its specific facts and circumstances, it shall provide additional entity-specific disclosures to enable users to understand the undertaking’s sustainability-related impacts, risks or opportunities . Application requirements AR 1 to AR 5 provide further guidance regarding entity-specific disclosures.’

ESRS 1 paragraph 34 states: ‘When disclosing information on metrics for a material sustainability matter according to the Metrics and Targets section of the relevant topical ESRS, the undertaking:

(a) shall include the information prescribed by a Disclosure Requirement if it assesses such information to be material; and

(b) may omit the information prescribed by a datapoint of a Disclosure Requirement if it assesses such information to be not material and concludes that such information is not needed to meet the objective of the Disclosure Requirement.’

ESRS 1 paragraph AR 3 states ‘When determining the usefulness of metrics for inclusion in its entity-specific disclosures, the undertaking shall consider whether:

(a) its chosen performance metrics provide insight into:

i. how effective its practices are in reducing negative outcomes and/or increasing positive outcomes for people and the environment (for impacts); and/or

ii. the likelihood that its practices result in financial effects on the undertaking (for risks and opportunities);

(b) the measured outcomes are sufficiently reliable, meaning that they do not involve an excessive number of assumptions and unknowns that would render the metrics too arbitrary to provide a faithful representation; and

(c) it has provided sufficient contextual information to interpret performance metrics appropriately, and whether variations in such contextual information may impact the comparability of the metrics over time.’

ESRS E4 paragraph 33 states: ‘The undertaking shall report metrics related to its material impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems.’

ESRS E4 paragraph 35 states: ‘If the undertaking identified sites located in or near biodiversity-sensitive areas that it is negatively affecting (see paragraph 19(a)), the undertaking shall disclose the number and area (in hectares) of sites owned, leased or managed in or near these protected areas or key biodiversity areas.

ESRS E4 paragraph 38 states: ‘If the undertaking has concluded that it directly contributes to the impact drivers of land-use change, freshwater-use change and/or sea-use change, it shall report relevant metrics. The undertaking may disclose metrics that measure:

(a) the conversion over time (e.g. 1 or 5 years) of land cover (e.g. deforestation or mining);

(b) changes over time (e.g. 1 or 5 years) in the management of the ecosystem (e.g. through the intensification of agricultural management, or the application of better management practices or forestry harvesting);

(c) changes in the spatial configuration of the landscape (e.g. fragmentation of habitats, changes in ecosystem connectivity);

(d) changes in ecosystem structural connectivity (e.g. habitat permeability based on physical features and arrangements of habitat patches); and

(e) the functional connectivity (e.g. how well genes or individuals move through land, freshwater and seascape).’

ESRS E4 paragraph 39 states: ‘If the undertaking concluded that it directly contributes to the accidental or voluntary introduction of invasive alien species, the undertaking may disclose the metrics it uses to manage pathways of introduction and spread of invasive alien species and the risks posed by invasive alien species.’

ESRS E4 paragraph 40 states: ‘If the undertaking identified material imp

cts related to the state of species, the undertaking may report metrics it considers relevant. The undertaking may:

(a) refer to relevant disclosure requirements in ESRS E1, ESRS E2, ESRS E3, and ESRS E5;

(b) consider population size, range within specific ecosystems as well as extinction risk. These aspects provide insight on the health of a single species’ population and its relative resilience to human induced and naturally occurring change;

(c) disclose metrics that measure changes in the number of individuals of a species within a specific area;

(d) disclose metrics on species at extinction risk (80) that measure:

i. the threat status of species and how activities/pressures may affect the threat status; or

ii. changes in the relevant habitat for a threatened species as a proxy for the undertaking’s impact on the local population’s extinction risk.’

ESRS E4 paragraph 41 states: ‘If the undertaking identified material impacts related to ecosystems, it may disclose:

(a) with regard to ecosystems extent, metrics that measure area coverage of a particular ecosystem without necessarily considering the quality of the area being assessed, such as habitat cover. For example, forest cover is a measure of the extent of a particular ecosystem type, without factoring in the condition of the ecosystem (e.g. provides the area without describing the species diversity w

(b) thin the forest);

(c) with regard to the ecosystem’s condition:

i. metrics that measure the quality of ecosystems relative to a pre-determined reference state;

ii. metrics that measure multiple species within an ecosystem rather than the number of individuals within a single species within an ecosystem (for example: scientifically established species richness and abundance indicators that measure the development of (native) species composition within an ecosystem against the reference state at the beginning of the first reporting period as well as the targeted state outlined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, or an aggregation of species’ conservation status if relevant); or

iii. metrics that reflect structural components of condition such as habitat connectivity (i.e. how linked habitats are to each other).’