Sustainability Reporting

The regulatory context

Directive (EU) 2022/2464 (CSRD) replaced the non-financial statement regime of Directive 2014/95/EU, transposed in Italy by Italian Legislative Decree 254/2016, with broader sustainability reporting, placed in a dedicated section of the management report and subject to an assurance opinion from the statutory auditor. In Italy the CSRD was transposed by Italian Legislative Decree 125/2024, which repealed Italian Legislative Decree 254/2016. The reporting must be prepared under the ESRS, the European standards adopted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772, which cover environmental, social and governance topics and rest on the principle of double materiality.

The scope of the obligation has been redrawn. Under the Omnibus package presented by the European Commission in February 2025, the second and third wave deadlines were first postponed by two years through Directive (EU) 2025/794, the so-called stop-the-clock; a revision of the CSRD was then agreed that narrows the obligation to larger companies, excludes listed SMEs and simplifies the ESRS. National transposition of these changes and the actual first-application dates should be verified when the engagement begins. For many SMEs, however, the subject remains a practical one, because it reaches them through the value chain: large customers, banks, contracting authorities and ESG rating agencies ask for sustainability data and policies even from companies that are not required to report. For these companies EFRAG published the voluntary VSME standard in December 2024, designed to answer such requests proportionately. Alongside the European standards, the GRI Standards remain widely used internationally, together with the EU Taxonomy for the classification of sustainable economic activities.

Our approach

A credible sustainability report is built on data, not on prose. We therefore start from the materiality assessment (double materiality for those applying the ESRS), carried out with stakeholder involvement and documented step by step: it is the basis on which the auditor and the readers judge how solid the document is.

Next comes the data collection system: for each indicator we define the source, the owner, the calculation method and the frequency. We calculate greenhouse gas emissions in line with the GHG Protocol, distinguishing Scope 1, 2 and 3, and reconcile the other environmental and social indicators with the company’s existing management information systems. Where certified management systems exist, we reuse their records and indicators and avoid collecting the same data twice.

With management we then set realistic targets and KPIs and the governance of sustainability, with explicit responsibilities at every level. We draft the document in plain language and prepare it for assurance, building a file of evidence for each disclosure. Our aim is to leave the company with a process that can be repeated in later financial years at limited cost and effort.

What sets our service apart

• Documented materiality: the double materiality assessment is traced through criteria, thresholds, sources and stakeholder involvement, because the selection of the topics to be reported is itself covered by the assurance opinion.
• Verifiable data: every figure has a source, a method and an owner, so that it stands up to scrutiny from the auditor and from customers.
• Integration: we connect the reporting to ISO management systems and to the 231 Model, particularly for anti-bribery and business conduct, reusing records and indicators already in place and avoiding duplicate data collection.
• Support over time: we do not simply hand over a document; we set up the process, train the internal contacts and stay alongside management in the financial years that follow.