The 12 ESRS are the sector-agnostic European Sustainability Reporting Standards under CSRD: two cross-cutting standards (ESRS 1, ESRS 2) plus ten topical ones covering five environmental, four social and one governance topic. Legal source: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772, applicable from financial year 2024.
The European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) translate the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) into detailed disclosure rules. Set 1, the sector-agnostic core, contains 12 standards adopted through Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772 and applicable to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2024. Two standards are cross-cutting and apply to every reporter; ten are topical and reported only where a double-materiality assessment finds the topic material.
The 12 ESRS at a glance
| ESRS code | Topic | Pillar |
|---|---|---|
| ESRS 1 | General requirements | Cross-cutting |
| ESRS 2 | General disclosures | Cross-cutting |
| ESRS E1 | Climate change | Environmental |
| ESRS E2 | Pollution | Environmental |
| ESRS E3 | Water and marine resources | Environmental |
| ESRS E4 | Biodiversity and ecosystems | Environmental |
| ESRS E5 | Resource use and circular economy | Environmental |
| ESRS S1 | Own workforce | Social |
| ESRS S2 | Workers in the value chain | Social |
| ESRS S3 | Affected communities | Social |
| ESRS S4 | Consumers and end-users | Social |
| ESRS G1 | Business conduct | Governance |
What changed in 2025-2026
ESRS 2 disclosures are mandatory for all in-scope companies regardless of materiality, while the ten topical standards depend on materiality; ESRS 1 itself sets the architecture but carries no disclosure requirements. Scope has narrowed sharply: the 2025 ‘Stop-the-Clock’ directive delayed reporting by two years, and the 2026 Omnibus content directive reset thresholds to over 1,000 employees and over 450 million euro net turnover, dropping most previously in-scope firms. EFRAG’s December 2025 advice simplifies the data points, but the E1-E5, S1-S4, G1 architecture is retained, so 12 ESRS remains the correct framing. GreenSutra’s consultants map these standards to each business in the ESG solutions practice; the ESG guide explains double materiality in plain terms.
Sources: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772 (ESRS Set 1) · Directive (EU) 2025/794 ‘Stop-the-Clock’ · Deloitte – EU sustainability reporting and ESRS updates