ESRS Disclosure Analysis of 10 German Companies

Nossa Data ran an analysis of x10 German companies ESRS disclosures. For this analysis we looked at the below list of companies. 

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, DHL Group, Deutsche Telekom AG, Fresenius SE Co. KGaA, Hamburg Commercial Bank AG, Kion Group AG, Merck , SAP AG, Symrise AG, Volkswagen Group

Within this analysis we look at the following areas;

• What ESRS Topic Standards did the companies choose to publish
• Which disclosure requirements were published the least number of times by companies
• Least mentioned / Most mentioned disclosure requirements
• How did the companies leverage disclosure requirement codes in their disclosure
• Examples of disclosure choices from the analysed companies

Nossa Data is a software solution that streamlines ESRS disclosure. Want to work with Nossa Data on your ESRS Disclosure? Get in touch at solutions@nossadata.com

One of the first pieces of analysis we ran was to understand which of the 10 ESRS topic standards the companies chose. In this case, all companies chose E1, S1 and G1. The least chosen ESRS topic standard was S3 Affected Communities. 

We then decided to look into how frequently the companies made use of the ESRS codes within their disclosure for the disclosure requirements. This refers to publishing the of the sub-disclosure requirements under ESRS e.g. E1-1, E1,2, E1-3 etc. 

We processed the reports using Nossa Data AI and discovered that the majority of the companies used a significant number of ESRS code. 

Most of the companies analysis referenced 50-60 unique ESRS Disclosure Requirement Codes and had over 200 references. 

Considering the codes, the most mentioned disclosure requirement codes were:

• S1-1: The undertaking shall describe its policies adopted to manage its material impacts on its own workforce, as well as associated material risks and opportunities.
• S2-1: The undertaking shall describe its policies adopted to manage its material impacts on value chain workers, as well as associated material risks and opportunities.
• G1-1: The undertaking shall disclose its policies with respect to business conduct matters and how it fosters its corporate culture.

Least mentioned were: 

• E2-6: The undertaking shall disclose the anticipated financial effects of material pollution related risks and opportunities.
• S3-2: The undertaking shall disclose its general processes for engaging with affected communities and their representatives about actual and potential impacts on them.
• S3-3: The undertaking shall describe the processes it has in place to provide for or cooperate in the remediation of negative impacts on affected communities that the undertaking is connected with, as well as channels available to affected communities to raise concerns and have them addressed.

Merck and Hamburg Commercial Bank

Merck referenced the highest number of ESRS disclosure requirement codes with over 800 mentions. Below we show x3 examples of how Merck leveraged ESRS codes within their disclosure. Hamburg Bank followed a similar disclosure style which we also reference below: 

SAP

SAP publishes a summary leveraging the ESRS topic standard codes and disclosure requirement codes of which material topics are included in their disclosures. 

Kion Group

Kion Group does a clean representation of their material topic standards alongside the sub and sub-sub topics that apply to their organisation. 

DHL Group

DHL Group showcases how their company ESG targets fit within the ESRS Topic standard framework. 

Deutsche Telekom 

Deutsche Telekom offers readers an index at the start of each ESRS topic standard category to support readers look into their disclosure. 

Fresnius SE

Fresnius follows the ESRS structure for additional material ESG topics that are relevant to their business. See below an example of their disclosure around Ethical Conduct in Clinical Research. 

Volkswagen Group

Volkswagen Group provides a helpful annex to readers referencing where different disclosure from ESRS can be found within their report. 

Nossa Data is a software solution that streamlines ESRS disclosure. Want to work with Nossa Data on your ESRS Disclosure? Get in touch at solutions@nossadata.com