Do you know your CSRD from your CSDDD? What about the EUDR? More importantly: do you know what your company needs to do about them?
The European Commission will shortly announce an omnibus package that aims to streamline these regulations on sustainability reporting, due diligence and deforestation.
Read on to learn what your business needs to do to comply with the rules, and find out how using the right technology can also help you benefit from these directives.
Overview of these regulations
Let’s start with the basics.
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) rules aim to make sure that businesses provide transparent, standardised information about their sustainability impact, so that consumers and investors can make more responsible purchasing and investment decisions. The directive applies to a wide range of companies and covers their own operations plus downstream and upstream value chains. The CSRD started to come into effect in 2024.
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) aims to make sure that companies behave sustainably and responsibly by identifying, preventing and eliminating any adverse impacts to human rights and the environment caused by their activities. The directive applies to a narrower range of companies than the CSRD, and covers their own operations plus their subsidiaries and business partners. Large companies are also required to implement a plan to mitigate climate change in line with the Paris Agreement. The CSDDD will start to apply to companies in mid-2027.
The Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss by making sure that products bought by EU citizens do not contribute to deforestation or forest degradation inside or outside Europe. The directive begins to apply to large and medium companies at the end of 2025, and to small and micro enterprises in mid-2026.
Taken together, the CSRD, CSDDD, and EUDR raise standards for environmental and human rights due diligence in your company and its supply chains. So, what do you need to do to comply with the regulations?
What you need to do to comply with the regulations
Essentially, your company needs to start work now — enhancing transparency, measuring and reporting on your sustainability indicators, and ensuring that human rights and the environment are protected throughout your operations and supply chain.
In order to do this right, you will need to establish a governance structure that includes board oversight of all your sustainability initiatives. You’ll need to engage with stakeholders to gather input, and then start integrating measures into your business processes to address social and environmental impacts. You’ll also need to perform regular assessments and audits, and report your findings transparently.
The omnibus package aims to reduce the reporting burden on companies by a minimum of 25%, but there will still be a lot of work to do, and it will take a long time to complete. No matter what size your company is, now is the time to set the wheels in motion, so that you’re ready when the rules take effect.
By complying with the regulations you’ll avoid substantial administrative and financial penalties, and protect your company from being taken to court by individuals or organizations seeking compensation for damages caused by non-compliance.
The good news is that you can use sustainability intelligence software to do the heavy lifting and ensure that your company is ready in good time.
How technology can help you meet regulatory requirements
From tracking environmental impact to auditing labour practices and preventing deforestation, the right tech can save you an enormous amount of time and effort.
Dedicated sustainability intelligence software can automate the process of data ingestion and transformation, ensuring that your sustainability data is accurate and comprehensive. The right software can also assess and score your sustainability performance, aligned with European Sustainability Reporting Standards.
Beyond compliance, the accurate product-level data gathered by sustainability software can also help you pinpoint areas for improvement, like identifying hotspots in product design, manufacturing, and supply chain management. You can use these actionable insights to guide your company’s sustainability strategy, strengthening your credibility with stakeholders, including customers, investors, and regulatory bodies.
There are also plenty of other benefits that arise when you transform your business practices to comply with the regulations.
How your business can benefit
When you demonstrate your commitment to social and environmental responsibility, you also improve your brand’s reputation, and build consumer trust. You also differentiate your brand in the market, with a unique selling point that attracts environmentally- and socially-conscious consumers.
As well as these commercial advantages, integrating sustainable due diligence practices into your operations also helps to secure your brand’s future. The data you gather and the insights that arise from it will improve your risk management and mitigation, increasing your business’s resilience and positioning your brand to stay competitive in the long term.
You’ll also benefit from cost savings and efficiencies, plus increased opportunities for innovation. Finally, your business will be increasingly attractive to talent and ESG-conscious investors, while also keeping existing employees engaged and productive.
How Dayrize can support you to innovate sustainably
Our integrated sustainability intelligence software can help simplify the process of measuring and reporting your sustainability achievements.
“Regulations like CSRD, CSDDD, and EUDR mark a new era in corporate accountability, pushing companies to actively monitor and disclose not just financial performance but also the environmental and human rights implications of their operations. This regulatory shift is fundamentally reshaping how businesses operate and assess their supply chains, making due diligence and transparency non-negotiable.”
— Bart Nollen, Dayrize Co-Founder
Bart Nollen
Co-Founder
Dayrize
The Dayrize platform presents all of your company’s sustainability intelligence in a single intuitive interface, allowing you to easily create transparent sustainability reports that meet ESRS reporting requirements. And when the regulations evolve, the platform will adapt too, helping your company remain compliant without significant disruption.
The detailed product-level analysis our platform provides delivers holistic sustainability intelligence, data accuracy and quality, and actionable insights and modelling, helping you to meet due diligence reporting requirements now and in the future.
Ready to start your sustainability journey? Sign up for a free demo today.
