Support for companies in sustainability reporting through the German Sustainability Code (DNK)

In January 2023, the EU Commission adopted the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which significantly expands the sustainability reporting requirements for large companies. A key requirement is the performance of a double materiality analysis, which determines which topics must be reported on. This analysis represents a considerable effort for companies, both in terms of documentation and implementation.

The German Sustainability Code (DNK), developed by the German Council for Sustainable Development (RNE), has been supporting companies with sustainability reporting free of charge since 2011. Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) use the DNK to introduce their own sustainability management. In order to meet the increasing demands on companies in the area of sustainability reporting, the DNK is being further developed in terms of content, concept and structure. The overarching goal of the DNK is to provide support services for companies, especially SMEs, in order to implement voluntary and mandatory sustainability reporting in accordance with CSRD in a manageable way.

adelphi supports the DNK in this process and takes on the following tasks as part of the project:

• Advice on integrating the materiality analysis into the DNK in order to fulfill the requirements of the CSRD.
• Content and organizational support in the planning and implementation of a webinar series on materiality analysis in the sense of the CSRD with a focus on implementation, reporting and topic-specific illumination, which will be designed in cooperation with experts.
• Conception, coordination and editing of a process guideline for the implementation of materiality analysis in accordance with the CSRD. This guideline is intended to serve companies as a practical orientation aid.