GRI ESRS-Professional Exam Questions

Nature is indeed recognized as a 'silent stakeholder' in the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). This term implies that, although nature cannot actively voice its concerns, it remains a critical component of sustainability reporting due to its fundamental role in sustaining life and economic activity. ESRS emphasizes that organizations must consider their impacts on nature, ecosystems, and biodiversity as part of their sustainability disclosures.

This recognition aligns with the concept of double materiality embedded in the ESRS framework, which considers both the financial impact on an organization and the organization's impact on environmental and social matters. The ESRS explicitly integrates biodiversity and ecosystems (ESRS E4) as a key topic, reflecting the need to account for the effects of business activities on nature, even if nature itself cannot actively advocate for protection.

The silent stakeholder concept reinforces the duty of care that organizations hold in assessing and mitigating their impacts on biodiversity, land use, pollution, and natural resources. This aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, both of which emphasize the protection and restoration of natural ecosystems.

Official Reference:

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772 of 31 July 2023 (ESRS E4 - Biodiversity and Ecosystems).

EFRAG Guidance on Stakeholder Engagement -- Highlights nature as an affected stakeholder in sustainability matters.

EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 -- Emphasizes that economic activities must integrate ecosystem preservation and restoration.

This confirms that the statement is true under ESRS standards.

The sustainability statement under ESRS is structured according to ESRS 1 and ESRS 2, outlining specific disclosure requirements. The required disclosures include:

General Disclosure Requirements from ESRS 2

ESRS 2 outlines general disclosure requirements, including governance, strategy, and impact, risk, and opportunity management (IROs). These disclosures are mandatory for all undertakings, providing the foundation of the sustainability statement.

(A) is correct

Environmental Objectives under the EU Taxonomy Regulation

Companies must disclose their alignment with the EU Taxonomy Regulation, particularly under Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2020/852, which includes financial and non-financial companies' obligations regarding taxonomy-aligned activities.

(B) is correct

Financial Performance Metrics from IFRS Reports

Financial metrics from IFRS are NOT a required disclosure under ESRS. The sustainability statement focuses on non-financial reporting, while financial performance remains under IFRS standards in financial statements.

(C) is incorrect

Governance-Related Information Determined by the Materiality Assessment

Governance disclosures (ESRS G1 Business Conduct) include transparency about policies, risk management, and ethical business practices. The materiality assessment determines the necessary governance disclosures based on entity-specific risks and opportunities.

(D) is correct

Conclusion:

The sustainability statement must include general disclosure requirements (A), environmental objectives under the EU Taxonomy (B), and governance-related information based on materiality (D). Financial performance metrics from IFRS reports (C) are not required.

Official Reference:

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772

Compilation Explanations January - July 2024

Inline XBRL (iXBRL) is the digital reporting format required under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) to ensure standardized and machine-readable sustainability reporting.

It is required under CSRD for sustainability reporting

The CSRD mandates the use of Inline XBRL for sustainability reports, ensuring digital tagging for structured data submission, making information easier to analyze by regulators and investors.

(A) is correct

It only applies to narrative disclosures, not numerical data

Incorrect. Inline XBRL applies to both numerical data (KPIs, metrics) and narrative disclosures, allowing structured reporting across qualitative and quantitative sustainability information.

(B) is incorrect

It makes reports both human-readable and machine-readable

True. Inline XBRL embeds machine-readable tags into a human-readable document, ensuring both usability and compliance with digital reporting requirements.

(C) is correct

It ensures that tags are embedded within a visually clear format

Correct. The Inline XBRL standard ensures that the digital tags do not alter the visual presentation of the report, maintaining clarity for human readers while allowing structured data extraction.

(D) is correct

Conclusion:

Inline XBRL is required under CSRD (A), makes reports both human-readable and machine-readable (C), and ensures a visually clear format (D). However, it applies to both narrative and numerical data, making (B) incorrect.

Official Reference:

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772

Compilation Explanations January - July 2024

The EU Taxonomy and the ESRS digital taxonomy serve different purposes in sustainability reporting:

EU Taxonomy is a classification system that identifies environmentally sustainable economic activities and establishes criteria for determining their contribution to environmental objectives. It is primarily used to guide investment decisions and financial disclosures.

ESRS Digital Taxonomy is a structured digital framework that ensures sustainability disclosures are machine-readable, standardized, and comparable under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Key Differences:

Aspect

EU Taxonomy

ESRS Digital Taxonomy

Purpose

Classifies sustainable economic activities

Enables structured digital sustainability reporting

Scope

Environmental focus on investments & economic activities

Comprehensive reporting across environmental, social, and governance (ESG) areas

Users

Financial institutions, investors

Reporting entities, auditors, regulators

Regulation

Under EU Taxonomy Regulation (2020/852)

Under CSRD (Directive 2022/2464/EU)

EU Platform on Sustainable Finance Report: Simplifying the EU Taxonomy

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772

Correct Sentence Completion:

The ESRS Taxonomy acts as a framework for tagging sustainability disclosures, ensuring data is structured, consistent, and comparable across organizations.

The CSRD requires sustainability information to be reported in a digitally accessible format, making it available for both people and machines.

Under the CSRD, sustainability reports will eventually be uploaded to the European Single Access Point (ESAP), centralizing public financial and non-financial information across the EU.

Explanation of the Selected Answer:

ESRS as a 'framework' -- The ESRS taxonomy defines a structure that allows sustainability data to be categorized and tagged effectively.

'Digitally accessible format' -- The CSRD mandates reporting in machine-readable formats such as XBRL to improve transparency and comparability.

European Single Access Point (ESAP) -- ESAP will serve as the centralized EU platform for sustainability and financial disclosures.

EU Taxonomy Regulation and CSRD Reporting Structure

EFRAG Explanation on ESRS Digital Reporting