Important note (26.02.2025):
Some details of this article may be outdated due to the current EU omnibus proposal. This applies in particular to the scope and deadlines of the CSRD. For up-to-date information and implications for companies, please read our blog post on CSRD Omnibus: CSRD Omnibus – What the EU proposal means for companies. All other content remains valid.
The UBIRCH ESG Study 2024 offers exciting insights into the landscape of ESG tools and sustainability reporting. It highlights the challenges that companies face when implementing the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
Survey of decision-makers in companies on CSRD
Design of the CSRD study
A total of 202 people took part in the study with 15 questions. Approximately 50% of the participants were sustainability managers (data collectors), C-level managers or controlling managers (data providers).
Half of the respondents work in companies with 10-249 employees and 30% work in companies with 1,000 to 10,000 employees. The participants in the CSRD study are active in various industries. The most common are people from the financial industry (14%), manufacturing companies (13%), industry (9%) and IT companies (7%).
CSRD reporting obligation
All individuals stated that they were affected by the CSRD. Just under half are already required to report from 2024. A quarter of the companies will have to publish their first sustainability report in accordance with the ESRS from the 2025 financial year and a further 19% at a later date. Six percent of respondents did not know exactly when they would be required to report.
ESG frameworks and standards
When asked about the frameworks and standards that the companies already use or plan to use, the most common answer (57%) is CSRD, followed by GRI (53%). Other responses include IFRS/ISSB (42%), SASB (41%), UN-GC (36%) and TCFD (31%).
This clearly shows that many of the companies want or need to be compliant with several ESG standards and frameworks. Are you not familiar with all the abbreviations? Feel free to look up the terms in our sustainability lexicon.
ESG tools for sustainability reporting
Of the companies surveyed, 73% already use ESG software. This means that more than a quarter have not yet decided on a platform to support them in implementing sustainability reporting.
Fragmented ESG tool landscape according to CSRD study
In response to the question “Which ESG solution do you use?”, a total of 74 different software platforms were named out of 174 responses. The ESG solutions from KPMG and SAP were named most frequently with 8% each. We also noticed the following anomalies:
- Fragmented market for ESG solutions: The study shows that there is already a large bouquet of tools for sustainability reporting. It is to be expected that even more providers will enter this dynamic market. This confusion in the market makes it difficult for decision-makers to maintain an overview and select the right solution for their own company’s needs. We at CSR Tools are happy to be your navigator in the jungle of ESG solutions and present our top 8 ESG software solutions.
- General software solutions: Many software providers that have not developed dedicated sustainability software appear among the responses. This tendency for companies to prefer to use their ERP (e.g. SAP) or CRM (e.g. Salesforce) was also revealed by PwC’s CSRD software study.
- Mention of ESG frameworks instead of tools: Among the 74 platforms mentioned, not all responses appear to actually refer to software solutions. Instead, frameworks such as TCFD, GRI or CSRD are mentioned in some cases.
- CSR tool overview: Among the information provided, there is some overlap with the providers listed in our CSR tool overview (e.g. IBM Envizi, Cubemos and Greenomy), but there are a few very exciting SCRD software solutions that were not mentioned in the study (e.g. CONSUST, Global Climate or Luup).
Source: ESG study – survey of decision-makers in companies on the topic of CSRD by Ubirch (2024)
Most popular solutions for determining Scope 3 data according to the CSRD study
In addition to the question about the ESG solution used, participants were also asked about the use of solutions for Scope 3 data. According to this, 60% stated that they had already implemented software.
A very similar picture emerges here. The answers are very diverse. Only Sphera is at the top with 6% of responses, followed by Deloitte, Enablon, SAP and Plan A with 4% each.
CSRD study reveals: Is ESG reporting seen as an obligation or an opportunity?
55% of people at C-level or in controlling see an opportunity in sustainability reporting. Among those responsible for sustainability, the figure is 60%. SMEs and smaller companies with fewer than 250 employees tend to be more aware of the challenges that this obligation entails.
Obviously, there is still an unmet need for information among decision-makers in order to make decisions regarding ESG in their company. In Ubirch’s ESG study, only 39% of data providers stated that they felt sufficiently informed.
Nevertheless, the vast majority of companies (85%) have a budget to meet ESG requirements. It is not clear from the study how exactly this budget is used, whether it is predominantly invested in consulting services, software-based ESG tools or in other ways.
It is also interesting to note that many companies prefer to report on their sustainability activities on a quarterly basis rather than just annually.
