What is CSRD?

It applies through the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, and its Scope 3 requirements are why reporters need data on the organisations in their value chain, suppliers and portfolio companies alike.

Who has to report under CSRD now?

Fewer companies than the original directive captured. The Omnibus I Directive, adopted by the Council on 24 February 2026 and published in the Official Journal on 26 February 2026, narrowed the scope to EU undertakings with more than 1,000 employees and net turnover above 450 million euros. Both tests apply, not either. Separate rules apply to non-EU parent undertakings with significant EU activity.

When does it apply?

The amended requirements apply to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2027, so the first reports on that basis land in 2028. Member states must transpose the CSRD-related provisions by 19 March 2027. Companies that were already reporting under the original timetable and remain in scope carry on. Companies pulled out of scope by the new thresholds may still report voluntarily, and many with customer or investor data requests coming at them choose to.

What level of assurance does a CSRD report need?

A CSRD report needs limited assurance. The original directive anticipated a move to reasonable assurance later, and Omnibus I removed that step. Limited assurance still means an assurance provider works through the reported figures and asks where each one came from, which is a documentation question before it is a measurement one.

How does CSRD relate to the ESRS?

CSRD says who reports and to what standard. The ESRS say what to disclose. Climate sits in ESRS E1, which is where the Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 requirements live, along with the requirement to disclose the share of the total that came from primary value chain data. The revised ESRS were adopted as a delegated act on 3 July 2026 and are expected to apply to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027.

What is the value chain cap?

A limit on what a reporting company can compel its smaller value chain partners to provide. An in-scope company cannot require a value chain partner below the 1,000 employee threshold to supply sustainability information beyond what the voluntary standard for smaller undertakings asks for, and the Commission adopted that standard as a delegated act on 3 July 2026.

Asking is still allowed. Where a request goes above the cap, the requester has to say which parts exceed it and tell the partner it has a statutory right to decline. Obligations under other EU law are unaffected, and so is voluntary or customary information exchange between trading partners.

This changes how a value chain data programme should be designed. Two practical consequences. First, you need to know which partners sit below the threshold before you send anything, which is an entity and headcount question. Second, checking published disclosures first sits outside the cap altogether, because you are not asking the partner for anything: a figure already in a supplier's or portfolio company's annual report is yours to use.

What does CSRD ask for on Scope 3?

Gross Scope 3 emissions by significant category, with the methods, assumptions and emission factors behind them, and the share of the total calculated from primary data obtained from the value chain. That requirement turns coverage into a disclosed number rather than an internal quality metric. A total built entirely from spend-based averages is reportable, and it reports a primary data share of close to nothing.

Where does DitchCarbon fit?

DitchCarbon provides verified emissions data for over 2 million organisations, so procurement, sustainability and finance teams can measure and act on supply chain and portfolio emissions from one source. For a CSRD reporter the useful part is what travels with each figure: the source, the change history, the method used, and whether the underlying disclosure carried third-party assurance. Coverage gaps are shown rather than hidden, which is what lets you state a primary data share honestly instead of estimating it. The full method is published: see how the Scope 3 calculation works.

The data feeds the systems already in use rather than replacing them. Run alongside a reporting or workflow platform, DitchCarbon becomes the data layer feeding it; run on its own, it is the platform, covering measurement, supplier and portfolio company engagement, forecasting and target tracking. Either way the Scope 3 Category 1 and Category 2 numbers and their provenance land where the disclosure is assembled.

Does DitchCarbon make a company CSRD compliant?

No single tool does, and that determination belongs to the company and its assurance provider. What DitchCarbon supplies is the value chain data and the evidence trail behind it. What you hand over is audit-ready and verified to ISO 14064-3, limited assurance, by UL Solutions, renewed annually, with every figure carrying its source and change history. DitchCarbon data has been used in emissions reports that were subsequently assured by ten different third-party assurance providers, including Big Four firms. DitchCarbon is the only specialist Scope 3 tool with third-party assurance of its calculation methodology: reports are on the trust centre, and the verification benchmark lists every vendor we checked, verified or not.

Related

• What are the ESRS?
• What is ESRS E1?
• What is the CSDDD?
• What is Scope 3 Category 1 (purchased goods and services)?

Below the employee threshold and getting CSRD data requests anyway? Claim your company profile and publish once, so requests can be answered from what is already there. Or see your primary data share across your own value chain.

Last reviewed July 2026. CSRD scope and timing changed materially in 2026, so check the date on any guidance you read on this subject.