As of the fiscal year 2017, numerous large undertakings in Germany and the EU will be required to furnish data on environmental, social, employee-related and anti-corruption matters as well as on respect for human rights. These are the requirements set forth in the
2014/95/EU Directive on the disclosure of non-financial and diversity information adopted on 22 October 2014. This new regulation will apply to around 6,000 companies and enterprises with over 500 employees. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will, in particular, be indirectly affected by the new directive.
As a means of satisfying their obligations, undertakings can draw on tried and trusted standards such as the Sustainability Code. This instrument has been developed by the
German Council for Sustainable Development as part of a stakeholder process and can be applied by organizations and enterprises regardless of their size or legal structure. “The Code makes all essential sustainability outputs transparent and more readily comparable. For undertakings without an established reporting system, it is also easy, flexible and very manageable,” explains Council member, Prof. Dr. Alexander Bassen. “As things stand right now, those using the Code already meet the requirements of the EU’s reporting obligation.”
This is supported by a comprehensive comparison of how the twenty Code criteria match up with the requirements of the directive. Please
download the comparison here.
Further Information:
Matching the criteria of the Sustainability Code to the EU’s non-financial reporting requirements (PDF)