A new survey from PwC has found that reporting under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will bring ‘tangible business benefits’ – but environmental performance and risk mitigation are the most pronounced so far.
The company’s first Global CSRD Survey, which polled 547 executives and senior professionals across more than 30 countries and territories, found organisations see various upsides in CSRD implementation. More than half (51%) of those polled cited better environmental performance, ahead of improved engagement with internal and external stakeholders (49%), risk mitigation (48%), and better social performance (42%).
In contrast, more financial-centric benefits lagged behind. Access to capital or lower cost of capital was cited by only a third (32%) of respondents, while revenue growth (29%) and cost savings (26%) fared even worse.
The study assessed respondents by whether they had to report in the 2025 financial year – large EU entities and issuers – versus the small-and medium-sized EU public interest entities who have to begin reporting in 2026. Only 3% of those polled who have to declare in FY2025 say they were not confident in their readiness to report. This number rose to 7% for those reporting in FY2026.
Universally, those reporting sooner were more likely to see the benefits; 57% versus 44% with regard to better environmental performance, for example. This was most pronounced when it came to financial incentives. 38% of those reporting in FY2025 said they saw revenue growth as a benefit, compared with just 18% reporting in FY2026.
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The report found that organisations who had completed upfront scoping activities were in the minority, even among those reporting in the 2025 financial year. One third (33%) say they had completed a double materiality assessment, with a further 47% saying it was in progress. Only half (49%) of respondents have started preparing draft disclosures; of that number, only 13% of total respondents had completed it.
The survey also found that organisations were assessing a wide range of impacts, risks and opportunities (IROs) even after applying a materiality threshold. While 16% of respondents said they were evaluating more than 100 IROs before the materiality threshold, and only 7% after, for 61-80 IROs before and after were cited by 10% of those polled apiece.
PwC noted that this was a sign of early days, and that assessments of IROs are ‘somewhat subjective’ even with detailed reporting standards in place. “We expect to see some convergence between similar companies in future years as companies gain more experience working with the standards and as best practices continue to emerge,” the company said.
Overall, PwC added that companies find CSRD ‘less daunting’ once they understand how the reporting standards impact them.
