CSR and regeneration glossary

154 terms on CSR, climate, nature, work and reporting, defined in a few sentences and linked to a reference source.

B

Base Empreinte® Reporting

Public ADEME database gathering the reference emission factors and inventory datasets used in France, including those of the former Base Carbone®. It underpins organisational carbon accounting (regulatory GHG reports, Bilan Carbone®) and environmental labelling of products and services.

See also: Emission factor

Source

Biodiversity footprint Reporting

A measure of the pressures an organisation, product or portfolio exerts on biodiversity (land-use change, pollution, climate change, overexploitation, etc.) and their effects on ecosystem integrity. CDC Biodiversité’s Global Biodiversity Score expresses it in MSA.km² (mean species abundance related to an area); results remain estimates based on average factors.

See also: TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures)

Source

C

Climate transition plan Reporting

Strategic document describing how a company intends to align its business model with a 1.5 °C-compatible pathway: reduction targets, levers, investments, governance and milestones. The CSRD (ESRS E1) and the ISSB (IFRS S2) require its disclosure where one exists; the 2026 Omnibus I directive removed the CSDDD obligation to adopt one.

See also: 1.5 °C pathway

Source

D

Double materiality Reporting

An analysis combining two perspectives: the company’s effect on people and the environment (impact materiality) and the effect of sustainability issues on the company (financial materiality). It is central to the CSRD.

E

EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) Reporting

A European association that advises the European Commission on financial reporting and, since the CSRD, drafts the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and the voluntary standard for SMEs (VSME). In December 2025 it delivered its technical advice on simplified ESRS.

See also: ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards)

Source

Emission factor Reporting

Coefficient converting activity data (kWh consumed, kilometres travelled, euros spent, tonnes purchased) into greenhouse gas emissions expressed in CO₂e. In France, reference factors are published by ADEME in the Base Empreinte®; their choice and uncertainty determine how reliable an emissions inventory is.

See also: Base Empreinte®

Source

ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards) Reporting

Sustainability reporting standards required by the CSRD and prepared by EFRAG. The first set (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772) comprises twelve cross-cutting, environmental, social and governance standards. A simplified version, adopted by the Commission in July 2026 and subject to scrutiny by Parliament and Council, is due to apply to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027.

See also: CSRD

Source

F

Financial materiality Reporting

The perspective under which a sustainability matter is material if it triggers, or could reasonably be expected to trigger, significant financial effects on the company: financial position, performance, cash flows, access to finance or cost of capital, over the short, medium or long term. Together with impact materiality, it forms ESRS double materiality; the ISSB uses this perspective alone.

See also: Double materiality

Source

G

GHG Protocol Reporting

Set of international greenhouse gas accounting standards developed since 1998 by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and WBCSD. Its Corporate Standard introduced the distinction between scopes 1, 2 and 3, supplemented by dedicated Scope 2 and Scope 3 standards. It is the reference for the ESRS, the ISSB and SBTi; several revisions are under way.

See also: Scopes 1, 2 and 3

Source

GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) Reporting

An independent international organisation founded in 1997 that publishes the GRI Standards, a sustainability reporting framework widely used worldwide. Structured into universal, sector and topic standards, they address an organisation’s impacts on the economy, the environment and people (impact materiality) and are interoperable with the ESRS.

See also: Double materiality

Source

I

IROs (impacts, risks and opportunities) Reporting

In the ESRS, impacts are the actual or potential, positive or negative effects of a company on people and the environment; risks and opportunities are the financial effects of sustainability matters on the company. The double materiality assessment identifies material IROs, which determine the information to be disclosed.

See also: Double materiality

Source

ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board) Reporting

A standard-setting board created in 2021 within the IFRS Foundation. Its IFRS S1 (general requirements) and IFRS S2 (climate) standards, published in June 2023, target sustainability information useful to investors, following a financial materiality approach. Whether they are mandatory depends on adoption by each jurisdiction.

See also: Financial materiality

Source

T

TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures) Reporting

Task force set up in 2015 by the Financial Stability Board, whose 2017 recommendations structure climate-related disclosures around four pillars: governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and targets. Disbanded in October 2023, it has been incorporated into the ISSB’s IFRS S2 standard, with the IFRS Foundation now in charge of monitoring.

See also: Physical risks

Source

TNFD (Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures) Reporting

An international initiative launched in 2021 that published, in September 2023, disclosure recommendations on nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities, structured around four pillars (governance, strategy, risk and impact management, metrics and targets) and accompanied by the LEAP assessment approach. In November 2025 the ISSB began developing a nature-related standard drawing on this framework.

See also: SBTN (Science Based Targets Network)

Source

V

Value chain Reporting

All the activities, resources and relationships linked to a company’s business model, upstream (suppliers, raw materials) and downstream (distribution, use, end of life), in addition to its own operations. Under the CSRD, impacts, risks and opportunities are assessed across the whole value chain; since Omnibus I, information requested from partners with fewer than 1,000 employees is in principle capped at the voluntary standard.

See also: IROs (impacts, risks and opportunities)

Source

VSME Reporting

A voluntary sustainability reporting standard for SMEs, published by EFRAG and recommended by the European Commission in July 2025. Having become the CSRD voluntary standard in 2026, it caps, from financial year 2027, the data that CSRD companies can require from value-chain partners with fewer than 1,000 employees.

Source

Definitions checked in October 2026 against the sources cited. Spotted an error or a regulatory change? Report it in the Agora.

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