In order to finance the objectives of the European Green Deal, the European Union introduced mandatory sustainability reporting. In efforts to follow suit, the United Kingdom has also developed its own ‘Green Finance Strategy’. Within each of these reporting landscapes there are multiple different reporting frameworks that vary in detail, timeline, and requirements.
Our client, ABF, a highly diversified food, ingredients, and retail group, wanted to better understand what course of action it needed to take to meet the requirements of a complex set of new rules. Specifically, we focused on advising them on the requirements for disclosure against the EU Taxonomy but also touched upon the requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and the UK Taxonomy amongst others.
It was important for Sancroft to understand ABF’s business activities and geographical footprint, in order to identify which elements of its operations would be relevant for reporting. This approach enabled us to translate detailed reporting guidance into a high-level overview including: future reporting priorities and obligations for their businesses; what ABF has to disclose, by when, and how they should prepare for disclosure; and, what the EU Taxonomy means for businesses operating outside of the EU.
Sancroft’s advice was communicated to ABF through a series of presentations to the Group Corporate Responsibility Director, Finance Director and the Director of Legal Services and Company Secretary. Several in-depth briefing notes were also provided.
Our work provided ABF with a macro understanding of their upcoming reporting requirements by providing clarity on a complex sustainability reporting landscape and the impact it will have on their business. A tailor-made reporting roadmap provided tangible actions for ABF to take in order to prepare for these future reporting requirements.
Having built a strong understanding of the scope and implications of the new sustainability reporting, Sancroft continues to work closely with ABF on its key ESG topics and distil the most important information into briefing notes.
