GRI ESRS-Professional Exam - Topic 1 Question 14 Discussion

The European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) categorize stakeholders into two main groups:

Affected Stakeholders:

These are individuals or groups whose interests are affected (positively or negatively) by the undertaking's activities and business relationships across its value chain.

Examples include workers (own workforce and those in the value chain), affected communities, consumers, and end-users.

The identification of affected stakeholders plays a crucial role in an organization's sustainability due diligence and materiality assessment processes.

Users of Sustainability Statements:

These are primary users of sustainability disclosures, including investors, lenders, and other creditors.

Additional users include business partners, trade unions, civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments, analysts, and academics.

The ESRS framework emphasizes the importance of engagement with affected stakeholders as part of an undertaking's due diligence and materiality assessment process, ensuring that material impacts, risks, and opportunities are adequately identified and reported.

Official Reference:

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772, ESRS 1, Section 3.1 - Defines the two main groups of stakeholders.

ESRS 2 SBM-2 (Interests and Views of Stakeholders) - Covers how affected stakeholders' views inform an undertaking's strategy.

EFRAG Guidance on Stakeholder Engagement and Double Materiality - Reinforces the role of affected stakeholders in sustainability assessments.