The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) announced the publication of the TNFD-ESRS Correspondence Mapping, aimed at helping companies disclosing nature and biodiversity-related information understand the commonalities between the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and the TNFD’s disclosure recommendations.

Tony Goldner, Executive Director of TNFD, said:

“As market participants from over 45 countries have started to assess and report on their nature-related issues aligned with our recommendations, many have asked us for further guidance to ensure their reporting complies with their mandatory CSRD requirements. The assessment released today provides that additional clarity to market participants.”

The ESRS, developed by EFRAG, and officially adopted by the European Commission in 2023, set out the rules and requirements for companies to report on sustainability-related impacts, opportunities and risks under the EU’s Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive (CSRD). The CSRD, which began applying to some companies as of the beginning of 2024, will significantly expand the number of companies required to provide sustainability disclosures to over 50,000 from around 12,000 currently, and introduce more detailed reporting requirements on company impacts on the environment, human rights and social standards and sustainability-related risk.

The TNFD was launched in 2021, building on the success of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), to support organizations in reporting and acting on their nature-related risks. The organization published its final recommendations for nature-related risk management and disclosure in September 2023, centred around 14 recommended disclosures, aimed at helping inform better decision-making by companies and capital providers on nature and biodiversity-related risks, opportunities, dependencies and impacts.

According to EFRAG and the TNFD, the new document, which provides a detailed mapping of the disclosures and core metrics recommended by the TNFD and required under ESRS, illustrate the high level of commonality achieved between the standards and recommendations, with the organizations noting that they have collaborated closely over the past 2 years to maximize consistency as each were developed. The organizations also signed an agreement in December 2023 to continue the collaboration.

Among the key commonality points highlighted are the reflection in the ESRS of all 14 of the TNFD’s disclosure recommendations, the inclusion by the TNFD of the double materiality approach required by the ESRS as a recommended approach to materiality, and the ability under ESRS for companies conducting materiality assessments on all environmental standards beyond climate change to use the LEAP approach developed by the TNFD to identify and assess nature-related issues.

Patrick de Cambourg, EFRAG SRB Chair, said:

“Today’s release of the correspondence mapping between the ESRS and the TNFD recommendations marks a significant milestone in advancing nature-related transparency in corporate reporting. The high level of commonality achieved between the ESRS and TNFD’s disclosures underscores our shared commitment to fostering sustainable development and providing robust data for stakeholders.”