A new study by PwC has found that while some have paused reporting plans in response to the recalibration of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), many are moving ahead and sticking to the original timeline.
As PwC’s Global Sustainability Reporting Survey noted, 2025 saw mandatory sustainability reporting ‘arrive with a bang’, with thousands of European firms publishing statements under the CSRD, and others starting to adopt the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) reporting framework.
It was also a year in which regulators ‘recalibrated’, PwC noted, with the EU seeking to reduce the number of organisations within the scope of the CSRD, while in the US, the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s climate-related financial disclosure regulations remain in flux.
‘Stop the clock’ directive
According to the survey of 496 companies, roughly 40% of companies planning CSRD compliance intend to take advantage of the EU’s ‘stop the clock’ directive, deferring statutory reporting by two years.
At the same time, a similar percentage state that they plan to report according to the original timeline, ‘even if not legally required to do so’, some under CSRD, others under ISSB or the Global Reporting Initiative.
Those that are pressing ahead are doing so due to stakeholder pressure – chiefly from investors, customers and some authorities, amidst increased demand for high-quality information on how companies are managing sustainability risks and opportunities.
Added value
The report also found that more than two-thirds of firms that have already reported under CSRD or ISSB say that they have gained ‘significant’ or ‘moderate’ value from doing so, beyond simple compliance.
‘Those seeing the most value are more likely to be using the insights in areas such as overall business strategy, supply chain transformation, workforce transformation, marketing and risk management’, PwC noted.
Among those deriving the most value from the process, close to 40% said sustainability data strongly influenced corporate strategy, compared with just 11% among companies that saw little benefit.
Technology is also emerging as a critical enabler when it comes to sustainability reporting, with more than half of companies surveyed now using central sustainability data storage and disclosure management tools. In addition, the adoption of AI in reporting has nearly tripled over the past year, with firms using AI for a number of applications, ranging from drafting disclosures to identifying risks. Read more here.
