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ACCOUNTANCY  EUROPE - 28 January 2025

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires companies to draw up sustainability reports in accordance with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). According to the CSRD, these reports will also be subject to assurance. The first sustainability reporting and assurance reports will be published in 2025 on 2024 data.

Professional assurance standards such as the International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA 5000) and CEAOB guidelines outline principles for sustainability reporting assurance engagements. The European Commission will adopt an EU limited assurance standard to define expectations for practitioners conducting limited assurance engagements in the EU on the basis of CEAOB technical advice including adds-on and possible carve-outs to ISSA 5000.

In this series of three papers, we share some key aspects on the assurance practitioner’s approach to double materiality assessment, value chain information and transition plans to contribute to the CSRD implementation and readiness debate.

These three short papers are meant to provide a high-level explanation of the limited assurance approach. They are primarily addressed to stakeholders such as users of assurance and structured in three parts:

• facts and principles from the CSRD and ESRS including those that are key to the assurance engagement
• high-level explanation to limited assurance approach along with examples
• preparer’s perspectives on double materiality assessment

Here are the links to the three papers:

1. double materiality assessment
2. value chain information
3. transition plans