Definitions, reference material, and shared vocabulary for the frameworks, data concepts, and reporting terms teams encounter when working with sustainability data.
Definitions, frameworks, and reporting terms explained.
The data your sustainability work needs is already inside your business. This guide shows you how to find it, read it, and turn it into a funded proposal. Built from three sessions with practitioners who have done it inside Nordic organisations.
The EU Omnibus is a legislative package that simplifies and focuses EU sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements. Introduced in February 2025 and now in effect, it means far fewer companies need to report under CSRD and CSDDD.
Sustainability data is the information an organization collects to measure, understand and report on how the company affects the environment, people and how it governs its business practices.
The VSME stands for Voluntary reporting standard for SMEs. The objective of the standard is to support SME’s in providing information that will help satisfy the data needs of large enterprises, banks and investors requesting sustainability information from their suppliers to assess risk and access to finance. (EFRAG)
Carbon offsetting involves individuals or legal entities compensating for their own greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by financing projects that a) prevent the emission of the corresponding amount of GHG elsewhere or b) remove the corresponding amount of GHG from the atmosphere.
Understanding how ESG and ESRS frameworks differ is essential for effective reporting and compliance. This section highlights their structures and applications to help professionals grasp their distinct roles.
There is often confusion surrounding the distinction between ESG and Sustainability, with these terms frequently being used interchangeably.
CSDDD stands for “Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive” and is an EU directive, passed on 25 July 2024, designed to hold companies accountable for their environmental and human rights choices. The directive is a legal framework that requires businesses to identify, prevent, and mitigate negative effects from their value chain.
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is a regulatory framework established by the European Union. Its primary purpose is to ensure that companies provide transparent, consistent, and comparable information about their sustainability activities and impacts.
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol suggests two primary data methods for calculating emissions, those are called activity-based data and spend-based data. The choice of which data method to use depends on the purpose of the data collection (e.g. Estimations vs. Compliance), the type of data (e.g. Fuel, transport or purchases of goods) or the availability of data (e.g. from suppliers, internal systems, or databases).
In today's environmentally conscious world, understanding the Greenhouse Gas Protocol scopes is crucial for any organization committed to sustainability.
In the fluid world of corporate sustainability, the concept of materiality is becoming increasingly crucial. Materiality in sustainability reporting is all about determining which environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors matter most to an organization and its stakeholders.
A sustainability platform is a structured software system that enables organisations to collect, govern, and act on sustainability and resource data across their operations. At its core, it provides the data foundation that connects operational activity, energy use, waste, water, materials, and transport to the insights, reports, and decisions required by sustainability management.
Dive into the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, its significance in the financial sector and investors. How does SFDR provide clearer insights into ESG.
European Union Directive 2014/95/EU, the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (“NFRD”), is a legislative directive that has legally required certain large, listed companies in Europe to disclose sustainability related information in their annual reports.
Central to the CSRD's mission is the implementation of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The standards elevate sustainability reporting to the same level of significance as financial reporting.
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) refers to the three core pillars used to evaluate a company’s sustainability performance and societal impact. It provides a structured approach for organizations to measure and report on how their operations align with sustainable and ethical practices.
The EU Taxonomy is at the forefront of the European Union's efforts to address climate change and promote a future. It serves as a classification system that aims to identify activities that are environmentally sustainable while also guiding investors and companies towards making responsible and eco conscious decisions.
Once the vocabulary is in place, the next step is applying it to your own data. A 30-minute walkthrough shows how the platform turns shared definitions into a traceable, auditable record.