What we do

Sustainability reports are becoming increasingly important – and not only because customers, investors and business partners expect more transparency. Internally too, they provide valuable strategic insights for aligning business models to be more efficient, sustainable and competitive. But how do you get started with sustainability reporting? Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular often face major challenges here – limited resources, lack of prior experience and high complexity, to name a few. This is precisely where the new Sustainability Code services of the DNK come in.

Previously: DNK declarations based on our own reporting standard

The German Sustainability Code (DNK) was developed in 2010 by the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE) in a multi-stakeholder dialogue – together with representatives from politics, the financial market, business and civil society. Since the end of 2011 we have provided targeted support for companies for their sustainability reporting. In the initial phase, businesses could publish so-called DNK declarations based on our own reporting standard. This experience provides the foundation for our enhanced services and offerings.

In the future: All the reports in one place

It is already possible to publish your report publicly on the DNK Platform if you wish – perhaps for customers, business partners or banks – to meet the growing demand for transparency on matters of sustainability.
In the medium term, the DNK hopes to become a centralised one-stop shop, where you can fulfil different reporting obligations efficiently and from an integrated view. Our ultimate aim is to bring together the different requirements on one platform. With our IT infrastructure, we already have the technical basis in place and will continue to develop it further.

Sustainability reports still matter

With the new CSRD thresholds adopted in December 2025, fewer companies than originally planned will be legally required to report in future. As DNK, we are in close contact with many companies and can clearly see that many are continuing their efforts, utilising the expertise they have already built up and consciously opting for voluntary reporting in accordance with the VSME standard. In addition, many of these companies continue to be part of the value chains of companies that are subject to reporting requirements. This means that a certain amount of data collection and sharing remains necessary. Business partners, investors and customers are also increasingly expecting transparency on sustainability issues. With our new VSME module, we specifically support companies that are not subject to reporting requirements in applying the voluntary VSME reporting standard.

This page was last updated on 21 January 2026.