The EU taxonomy provides a standardized classification system for sustainable economic activities for the first time. Read about the resulting need for action for companies.
Climate protection, biodiversity and social responsibility are strategic tasks for management and supervisory boards.
The sustainable transformation of the economy is in full swing and presents companies with huge challenges. In future, they will no longer be assessed solely on the basis of financial criteria such as liquidity and profitability, but also on how they deal with the issues of climate and environmental protection, biodiversity and their social and societal responsibility. To do this, they must deliver measurable results that make sustainable activities comparable across borders. Although the regulatory requirements are primarily aimed at larger companies, they require comprehensive data along the entire supply chain in order to meet their reporting obligations. This is precisely where smaller companies come into play: as part of a value chain, they are increasingly required to provide non-financial information. This means that in future, all companies, their managers and employees will have to deal with sustainability and the opportunities and risks in their own business model.
Sustainability is becoming a key corporate management factor
The EU taxonomy provides a uniform classification system for sustainable economic activities for the first time. With non-financial reporting (“CSRD”), clear rules and a new reporting standard (“ESRS”) analogous to financial reporting are presented. Around 2,000 Austrian companies will be covered by this from 2026. “For many of these companies, this is completely new territory,” says Heidrun Kopp, Head of the ESG & Sustainable Finance training programs at FHWien der WKW.
The sustainability expert therefore sees an urgent need for action: “Non-financial reporting requires professional ESG management – in other words, new knowledge at all hierarchical levels and the entrepreneurial vision to actively shape the challenges ahead. In many companies, this expertise first has to be built up or bought in from outside.”
In our new compact seminar “EU regulations”, we provide you with a compact overview of the EU taxonomy and non-financial reporting (CSRD) in practical application. Find out more about this program here!