The European Commission has opened a consultation on a delegated act setting out the first set of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESR). The consultation is available online (European sustainability reporting standards – first set (europa.eu)) but is only open from 09.06.23. to 07.07.23.  

The Delegated Act will supplement the EU Accounting Directive as amended by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). This law requires large companies and publicly listed companies to publish regular reports on the social and environmental risks they face, and on how their activities impact people and the environment. It sets out cross-cutting standards and standards for the disclosure of environmental, social, and governance information.  

The delegated act under consultation allows for both location-based and market-based reporting of scope 2 emissions – those related to purchased or acquired electricity, steam, heat, and cooling (see related annexes to the delegated act). RECS will use the position it developed regarding the review and possible revision of the GHG Protocol Scope 2 guidance document when responding to this consultation. RECS encourages its members to submit responses based on this same RECS position.  

The European Commission’s recommendations ((EU) 2021/2279) from 15.12.2021 on the use of the Environmental Footprint methods to measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations make reference to the GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance from World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development WBCSD.