CSR report: Sustainability becomes measurable!
Sustainability certification for companies and organizations
Certification puts you on the safe side when it comes to sustainability reporting.
The Federal Association offers you a Europe-wide unique sustainability certification for your company or organization. IASA Certified Sustainability® was originally developed for aviation, which places particularly high demands on certification.
We provide advise, you will receive an individual offer and employees of the German Federal Association for Sustainability conduct the audit with you. Under certain conditions, the certification may even be eligible for government aid in Germany.
Please contact us and arrange an appointment with us. Your contact person is GFAS Vice President Martin Wittau.
Obligation to sustainability reporting
On 11 April 2017, the German Bundestag transposed EU Directive 2014/95/EU into national law as the “Law on Strengthening the Non-Financial Reporting of Companies in their Status and Group Management Reports” (or short: CSR Directive Implementation Act). From 1 January 2017, this reporting requirement will apply in Germany.
In addition to EU regulations, the CSR Directive Implementation Act also includes limited liability partnerships and cooperatives in the reporting obligation. § 289 of the German Commercial Code whas been supplemented by a newly created § 289b “Duty to non-financial statement; Exemptions”.
The reporting requirement, which will apply from 2017, complements the existing directives on the general reporting requirements of listed companies and concerns large capital market-oriented companies, credit institutions and unlisted insurance companies if they have:
- more than 500 employees on an annual average and
- either > EUR 20 million balance sheet total or
- > 40 million EUR revenues in the 12 months prior to the balance sheet date.
Components of the report are:
- Description of the business model of the company;
- environmental concerns, which may include greenhouse gas emissions, water use, air pollution, the use of renewable and non-renewable energy or the protection of biodiversity, for example;
- Labor issues, for example, providing information and advice on the measures taken to ensure gender equality, working conditions, implementation of the fundamental conventions of the International Labor Organization, respect for workers’ rights social dialogue, respect for trade union rights, health or safety at work;
- social concerns, which may include, for example, dialogue at local or regional level or actions taken to ensure the protection and development of local communities;
- respect for human rights, which may include, for example, the prevention of human rights violations;
- the fight against corruption and bribery, which may, for example, refer to existing anti-corruption and bribery tools.
In addition to the above, the non-financial statement shall include the information required to understand the course of business, the results of operations, the situation of the company and the impact of its activities on the matters referred to in paragraph 2.
Even SMEs affected
... if small and medium-sized enterprises are part of the supply chain of a reportable company.
In fact, the reporting obligation can be passed on to suppliers when it comes to essential information and the resulting requirements for SMEs are proportionate. Since the information must be provided by the SME, it is also advisable for small and medium-sized enterprises to establish appropriate reporting. Here, SMEs can receive support from the German Federal Association for Sustainability.
