Corporate Disclosures 2024

PANEL: MEET THE STANDARDS-SETTERS

Reviewing the current sustainability reporting landscape (ISSB/GRI/ESRS/EU taxonomy), and interoperability and equivalence between the different frameworks

• Updates on the latest guidance for sustainability reporting, at international and European level
• ISSB
• State of play of the adoption of IFRS S1 and S2 globally: Where have they been adopted and implemented and under which scope?
• Progress and timeline of the ISSB research projects on biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services, and human capital
• ESRS
• Sharing the latest guidance on CSRD and interpretations of the first CSRD reports
• Transposition in member states - considerations
• Update on ESRS for SMEs and sectorial standards
• Linkages between CSRD and EU taxonomy
• EU Taxonomy
• Linkages between CSRD and EU taxonomy
• Other guidance for preparers
• GRI
• Updates on the MoUs/partnerships, and interoperability with ISSB and EFRAG
• State of play of use of the impact standards around the world
• Progress and timeline on sector-specific standards
• Reviewing the progress on achieving Interoperability between all the frameworks – how are the different bodies collaborating to align and achieve equivalence?
• Practitioner perspectives: how can the standards bodies support preparers, now and further down the line? What further guidance is needed?

Panellists:
Katharina Bryan, Head of Sustainability Reporting Policy, Amazon
Peter Paul van de Wijs, Chief Policy Officer, GRI
Tom Dodd, Team Leader - Sustainability Reporting, DG FISMA, European Commission

PANEL: CSRD

Complying with CSRD, and using it as a strategic tool: experiences shared and lessons learned so far

• Sharing experiences from companies who are now reporting: how have they found it, what have been the challenges, and what lessons can be learned for others?
• Finding the data: how have companies managed to build up their data governance processes and gathered the necessary information to comply with the ESRS? How much of this is done in-house, or with consultancy, and what are the associated costs?
• As we move from voluntary to mandatory reporting, what are the associated risks and how can these be managed?
• How can companies use reporting under CSRD as an operational strategic tool in designing, running and monitoring their sustainability strategies? Which voluntary disclosures are companies still choosing to report against, for strategic reasons?
• Embedding CSRD reporting across the organisation – sustainability, finance, risk, board level etc
• How do investors view CSRD, as users of the reports? How does it help to get more robust, granular and comparable data to ultimately support sustainable investing?

Panellists:
Claudia Hügel, Senior Director, Corporate Responsibility – Head of ESG Rating & Reporting, Lufthansa Group
Paulien Eckhardt, Global Head of ESG, Ingka Group (IKEA)

PRESENTATION/FIRESIDE CHAT: DUE DILIGENCE/CSDDD

Implementing CSDDD (Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive), and understanding its linkages with CSRD

• How does a company assess and mitigate human rights in its operations and across its supply chain?
• How do CSDDD and CSRD feed into each other, and how does this work in practice? What experiences can companies share in terms of practical implementation?
• Are there litigation risks? How can these be managed?
• Transposition in member states – what are the considerations?

“HOW-TO” SESSION 1: DMA

Practical guide to performing a double materiality assessment

• Impact materiality and financial materiality – how are they interconnected?
• Double materiality – bringing it all together
• Tackling the key challenges faced in DMAs, such as:
• Quality of data
• Building the IRO (Impact, Risk, Opportunity) list
• Navigating complex value chains, upstream and downstream, and often across multiple jurisdictions: how far to go, to meet standard-setters' and auditors' expectations?
• What best practices are emerging in double materiality assessments? What lessons can be learned from enterprises who have already performed a DMA?
• As experience grows, how can enterprises perform DMAs more smartly and efficiently, and in a user-friendly way? How can data quality be improved and KPIs slimmed down?
• Compliance burden or benefit? How can the data from double materiality assessments be used to inform business decisions and drive sustainable outcomes? How is stakeholder engagement being used, even though not deemed "material"?

Marie Corger, Head of Sustainability Strategy & Reporting, Philip Morris International

“HOW-TO” SESSION 2: DATA GOVERNANCE

Data governance, internal controls and auditor expectations

• Building the necessary internal controls for collecting and reporting sustainability data
• Integrating financial and non-financial reporting – what are the building blocks for achieving this? How to ensure alignment between sustainability professionals and financial professionals, and embed sustainability reporting across the whole organisation, including at board level?
• Recruiting the right talent and skillsets to meet increasingly complex data management, disclosure and reporting needs
• Internal auditing: how are the new sustainability reporting requirements changing the internal auditor's role?
• Meeting external auditors' expectations and discussing the evolving nature of audit opinions

Jan Johansson, Senior Sustainability Analytics & Reporting Manager, AB Electrolux

“HOW-TO” SESSION 2: SUSTAINABILITY ASSURANCE

Hands-on tools for conducting effective sustainability assurance

• What questions will auditors ask, and what standards will they follow?
• Understanding the CEAOB guidelines
• Examining and managing the costs of a third party audit
• Should sustainability audit report readers read these reports the same way they do financial reports? If not, what does it mean, for investors, and companies, and auditors?
• What are the risks of greenwashing, and how can these be mitigated?
• What can be expected in jurisdictions where assurance is not yet considered mandatory?
• Troubleshooting - corporates share practical experiences of the challenges relating to sustainability assurance

Moderator:
Hilde Blomme, Deputy CEO, Accountancy Europe

PANEL: DIGITALISATION

Practical insights on digitalisation and newly emerging reporting tools

• What reporting tools are being developed, and how are they being used to ease the compliance burden?
• The role of AI: what risks and opportunities are being created?
• Reviewing the state of play for XBRL digital tagging: how widely is it being used for sustainability reporting, and by whom?
• How do companies need to adapt their current reporting systems and processes? What questions to ask when investing in new solutions, or upgrading legacy systems?
• To what extent are standards-setters and regulators taking digital technologies into account in the development of their disclosure requirements? How might this evolve in the future?
• Looking ahead: can digitalisation help, or advise, the way forward?

Panellist:
Dia Desai, Managing Director & Global Head, Sustainability Disclosures and Insights, HSBC

Fireside chat: The launch of the Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures (TISFD): where will it fit in the puzzle?

Madeleine Evans, Director, Generation Investment Management

PANEL: BIODIVERSITY

Tackling the reporting challenges relating to biodiversity and natural capital

• Discussing the linkages between climate risk and nature risk, and what this means from a reporting perspective
• Sharing outcomes from COP16 for biodiversity, in the context of sustainability reporting
• Overview of the TNFD framework and how it feeds into standards setting
• Sharing experiences from early TNFD adopters: what challenges have been faced and how are these being overcome? What is still needed for biodiversity and nature reporting?
• Reviewing the progress in interoperability between TNFD, ESRS, ISSB and GRI standards
• How to capture the localised nature of biodiversity in international and regional standards and frameworks

Panellists:
Lara Hildebrand, Nature Manager, Holcim
Tomas Zaborowski, Global Head of Sustainability Excellence, Bayer AG

DEEP-DELVE ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS

Interactive breakout groups to delve deeper into your chosen topic of those covered earlier in the day, and address any pending questions

• CSRD
• CSDDD
• DMA
• Data governance, internal controls and auditing
• Sustainability assurance
• Biodiversity and nature disclosures
• Other topics to be confirmed

CLOSING REMARKS, END OF CONFERENCE & DRINKS RECEPTION