Disclosure of climate change mitigation and adaptation targets based on European Sustainability Reporting Standards

Abstract

The new European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) require the disclosure of various sustainability accounting metrics. The requirement to disclose accounting metrics related to climate change mitigation and adaptation targets is a background for companies seeking to be sustainable. The aim of the present research is to assess how prepared EU companies are for the application of the ESRS, including company targets for climate change mitigation and adaptation. To design the research methodology, scientific and regulatory literature was analysed and empirical research was conducted using content analysis of the 2022-2024 sustainability reports of the five largest EU companies, and a disclosure index was calculated. The results showed that the majority of companies are ready to follow the new requirements of ESRS and some accounting metrics were presented before ESRS came into force.