ESRS E4

Objective

1.

The objective of this Standard is to specify Disclosure Requirements which will enable users of the sustainability statement to understand:

  1. how the undertaking affects biodiversity and ecosystems , in terms of material positive and negative, actual and potential impacts, including the extent to which it contributes to the drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem loss and degradation;
  2. any actions taken, and the result of such actions, to prevent or mitigate material negative actual or potential impacts and to protect and restore biodiversity and ecosystems, and to address risks and opportunities; and
  3. the plans and capacity of the undertaking to adapt its strategy and business model in line with: 
    1. respecting planetary boundaries related to biosphere integrity and land-system change
    2. the vision of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its relevant goals and targets ;
    3. relevant aspects of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 [70];
    4. Directive 2009/147/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Council Directive 92/43/EEC (EU Birds and Habitats Directives) [71]; and
    5. Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Marine Strategy Framework Directive [72] ;
  4. the nature, type and extent of the undertaking’s material risks, dependencies and opportunities related to biodiversity and ecosystems, and how the undertaking manages them; and 
  5. the financial effects on the undertaking over the short-, medium- and long-term of material risks and opportunities arising from the undertaking’s impacts and dependencies on biodiversity and ecosystems.

2.

This Standard sets out Disclosure Requirements related to the undertaking’s relationship to terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats, ecosystems and populations of related fauna and flora species, including diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems and their interrelation with indigenous peoples and other affected communities.

3.

The terms “ biodiversity ” and “ biological diversity ” refer to the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, freshwater , marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part.

Interaction with other ESRS

4.

´Biodiversity and ecosystems ’ are closely connected to other environmental matters. The main direct drivers of biodiversity and ecosystems change are climate change, pollution , land-use change, freshwater -use change and sea-use change, direct exploitation of organisms and invasive alien species. These drivers are covered in this standard, except for climate change (covered by ESRS E1) and pollution (covered by ESRS E2).

5.

To obtain a comprehensive understanding of material impacts and dependencies on biodiversity and ecosystems , the Disclosure Requirements of other environmental ESRS should be read and interpreted in conjunction with the specific disclosure requirements of this Standard. The relevant disclosure requirements covered in other environmental ESRS are:

  1. ESRS E1 Climate change, which addresses in particular GHG emissions and energy resources (energy consumption);
  2. ESRS E2 Pollution, which addresses pollution to air, water and soil ;
  3. ESRS E3 Water and marine resources which addresses in particular water resources (water consumption) and marine resources ; 
  4. ESRS E5 Resource use and circular economy addresses in particular the transition away from extraction of non-renewable resources and the implementation of practices that prevent waste generation, including pollution generated by waste.

6.

The undertaking’s impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems affect people and communities. When reporting on material negative impacts on affected communities from biodiversity and ecosystem change under ESRS E4, the undertaking shall consider the requirements of ESRS S3 Affected communities.

7.

This Standard should be read in conjunction with ESRS 1 General requirements and ESRS 2 General disclosures.

Disclosure Requirements

ESRS 2 General disclosures

8.

The requirements of this section shall be read in conjunction with the disclosures required by ESRS 2 Chapter 2 Governance, Chapter 3 Strategy and Chapter 4 Impact, risk and opportunity management.

9.

The resulting disclosures shall be presented alongside the disclosures required by ESRS 2, except for ESRS 2 SBM-3, for which the undertaking has an option to present the disclosures alongside the topical disclosures.

10.

In addition to the requirements in ESRS 2, this Standard also includes the topic specific Disclosure Requirement E4-1 Transition plan and consideration of biodiversity and ecosystems in strategy and business model.

Strategy

Disclosure Requirement E4-1 – Transition plan and consideration of biodiversity and ecosystems in strategy and business model

11.

The undertaking shall disclose how its biodiversity and ecosystem impacts, dependencies, risks and opportunities originate from and trigger adaptation of its strategy and business model.

12.

The objective of this Disclosure Requirement is to enable an understanding of the resilience of the undertaking’s strategy and business model in relation to biodiversity and ecosystems , and of the compatibility of the undertaking’s strategy and business model with regard to relevant local, national and global public policy targets related to biodiversity and ecosystems.

13.

The undertaking shall describe the resilience of its strategy and business model in relation to biodiversity and ecosystems . The description shall include:

  1. an assessment of the resilience of the current business model and strategy to biodiversity and ecosystems-related physical, transition and systemic risks; 
  2. the scope of the resilience analysis in relation to the undertaking’s own operations and its upstream and downstream value chain and in relation to the risks considered in that analysis;
  3. the key assumptions made; 
  4. the time horizons used;
  5. the results of the resilience analysis; and 
  6. the involvement of stakeholders, including, where appropriate, holders of indigenous and local knowledge.

14.

If information specified in this disclosure requirement is disclosed by the undertaking as part of the information required under ESRS 2 SBM-3, the undertaking may refer to the information it has disclosed under ESRS 2 SBM-3.

15.

The undertaking may disclose its transition plan to improve and, ultimately, achieve alignment of its business model and strategy with the vision of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its relevant goals and targets, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, and with respecting planetary boundaries related to biosphere integrity and land-system change.

Disclosure Requirement SBM 3 – Material impacts, risks and opportunities and their interaction with strategy and business model

16.

The undertaking shall disclose:

  1. a list of material sites in its own operations, including sites under its operational control, based on the results of paragraph 17(a). The undertaking shall disclose these locations by:
    1. specifying the activities negatively affecting biodiversity sensitive areas  [73]
    2. providing a breakdown of sites according to the impacts and dependencies identified, and to the ecological status of the areas (with reference to the specific ecosystem baseline level) where they are located; and 
    3. specifying the biodiversity-sensitive areas impacted, for users to be able to determine the location and the responsible competent authority with regards to the activities specified in paragraph 16(a)                 
  2. whether it has identified material negative impacts with regards to land degradation , desertification or soil sealing  [74]; and
  3. whether it has operations that affect threatened species  [75].

Impact, risk and opportunity management

Metrics and targets

Appendix A: Application Requirements

This appendix is an integral part of the ESRS E4. It supports the application of the disclosure requirements set out in this standard and has the same authority as the other parts of the standard.

ESRS 2 General disclosures

This appendix is an integral part of the ESRS E4. It supports the application of the disclosure requirements set out in this standard and has the same authority as the other parts of the standard.

Strategy

This appendix is an integral part of the ESRS E4. It supports the application of the disclosure requirements set out in this standard and has the same authority as the other parts of the standard.

Disclosure Requirement E4-1 – Transition plan and consideration of biodiversity and ecosystems in strategy and business model

This appendix is an integral part of the ESRS E4. It supports the application of the disclosure requirements set out in this standard and has the same authority as the other parts of the standard.

AR 1.

If disclosing a transition plan, the undertaking may:

  1. explain how it will adjust its strategy and business model to improve and, ultimately, achieve alignment with relevant local, national and global public policy goals and targets related to biodiversity and ecosystems including the vision of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and its relevant goals and targets, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, and Directive 2009/147/EC Council Directive 92/43/EEC (the EU Birds and Habitats Directives) and, as appropriate, planetary boundaries related to biosphere integrity and land-system change ;
  2. include information about its own operations and also explain how it is responding to material impacts in its upstream and downstream value chain identified in its materiality assessment in accordance with ESRS 2 IRO-1 Description of the processes to identify and assess material impacts, risks and opportunities;
  3. explain how its strategy interacts with its transition plan;
  4. explain how it contributes to addressing biodiversity and ecosystem impact drivers and its possible mitigation actions following the mitigation hierarchy and the main path-dependencies and locked-in assets and resources (e.g., plants, raw materials) that are associated with biodiversity and ecosystems change; 
  5. explain and quantify its investments and funding supporting the implementation of its transition plan, with a reference to the key performance indicators of taxonomy-aligned CapEx, and where relevant the CapEx plans, that the undertaking discloses in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2178;
  6. if it has economic activities that are covered by delegated regulations on biodiversity under the Taxonomy Regulation, explain any objective or plans (CapEX, CapEx plans) that it has for aligning its economic activities (revenues, CapEx) with the criteria established in those delegated regulations; 
  7. explain how biodiversity offsets are used as part of the transition plan, and if so, where the offsets are planned to be used, the extent of use in relation to the overall transition plan, and whether the mitigation hierarchy was considered; 
  8. explain how the process of implementing and updating the transition plan is managed;
  9. explain how it measures progress, namely indicate the metrics and methodologies it uses for that purpose;
  10. indicate whether the administrative, management and supervisory bodies have approved the transition plan; and 
  11. indicate current challenges and limitations to draft a plan in relation to areas of significant impact and how the company is addressing those challenges.

AR 2.

If disclosing a transition plan, the undertaking may, for example, refer to the following targets from the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030:

  1. The decline of pollinators is reversed.
  2. The risk and use of chemical pesticides is reduced by 50%, and the use of more hazardous pesticides is reduced by 50%. 
  3. At least 25% of agricultural land is under organic farming management, and the uptake of agro-ecological practices is significantly increased.
  4. Three billion additional trees are planted in the EU, in full respect of ecological principles. 
  5. Significant progress in the remediation of contaminated soil sites .
  6. At least 25 000 km of free-flowing rivers are restored.
  7. The losses of nutrients from fertilisers are reduced by 50%, resulting in the reduction of the use of fertilisers by at least 20%.
  8. The negative impacts on sensitive species and habitats, including on the seabed through fishing and extraction activities, are substantially reduced to achieve good environmental status.

AR 3.

If disclosing a transition plan, the undertaking may also refer to the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular: 

  1. SDG 2 – End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture;
  2. SDG 6 – Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all;
  3. SDG 14 – Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development; and 
  4. SDG 15 – Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems , sustainably manage forests, combat desertification , and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Impact, risk and opportunity management

This appendix is an integral part of the ESRS E4. It supports the application of the disclosure requirements set out in this standard and has the same authority as the other parts of the standard.

Metrics and targets

This appendix is an integral part of the ESRS E4. It supports the application of the disclosure requirements set out in this standard and has the same authority as the other parts of the standard.

Unser Newsletter

Bleiben Sie auf dem Laufenden mit regelmäßigen Informationen zum Thema ESRS, Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung und Lieferkette sowie zur Nachhalltigkeitsmanagement-Software Core Spot®. Ihre Einwilligung in den Empfang können Sie jederzeit widerrufen.