The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), establishes disclosure requirements for TAPs related to material sustainability matters. A key aspect of the CSRD is the integration of policies, actions, and targets to create a cohesive approach to managing material Impacts, Risks, and Opportunities (IROs). This article explores how these components interconnect.

The CSRD requires organisations to disclose the policies they have in place to manage material IROs. Policies outline an organisation’s commitment to sustainability, setting high-level goals for preventing, mitigating, and remediating impacts, as well as addressing risks and leveraging opportunities.

“Provide an understanding of the policies that the undertaking has in place to prevent, mitigate and remediate actual and potential impacts, to address risks and to pursue opportunities” (ESRS 2, p64)

On the KEY ESG platform, you can access and manage all policies centrally within the Policies Library :

Alternatively, add new policies directly within the relevant disclosure topic.

Select the policy applicable to each disclosure topic across CSRD, and answer both general policy questions and specific questions for each selected policy.

Actions (or Action plans) are the concrete steps an organisation takes to put its policies into practice. They bring policy goals to life and demonstrate progress towards its sustainability objectives.

“Provide an understanding of the key actions taken and/or planned to prevent, mitigate and remediate actual and potential impacts, and to address risks and opportunities , and where applicable achieve the objectives and targets of related policies” (ESRS 2, p67)

On the KEY ESG platform, you can access and manage all Action plans centrally within the Action plans Library.

Alternatively, add new Action plans directly within the specific disclosure topic you wish to report on.

Select the Action plans relevant to each disclosure topic across CSRD, and answer both general Action plan questions and specific questions related to each selected Action plan.

Targets serve as measurable, time-bound outcomes that track the effectiveness of policies and actions implementation. They help organisations assess progress, set standards, and make strategic adjustments when necessary. Effective targets are specific and relevant to material sustainability matters.

“Provide for each material sustainability matter an understanding of: whether and how the undertaking tracks the effectiveness of its actions to address material impacts, risks and opportunities, including the metrics it uses to do so; measurable time-bound outcome-oriented targets set by the undertaking to meet the policy ’s objectives.” (ESRS 2, p79)

On the KEY ESG platform, you can access and manage all targets centrally within the Targets Library.

Within the CSRD Targets questions, indicate if targets have been set to track the effectiveness of policies and actions related to the disclosure topic. Select the relevant target, or alternatively, add new Targets directly within the specific disclosure topic you wish to report on and answer the associated questions.

For certain topics, such as Climate Change, additional disclosure may be required regarding target-setting practices relevant to the topic.

Integrating policies, actions, and targets creates a structured framework that guides an organisation’s sustainability efforts, ensuring consistency and accountability. By linking these components within CSRD reporting, organisations build a pathway to managing material impacts, risks, and opportunities.
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