CSRD changed. The value of doing the work hasn’t.
30 october 2026
This explainer is written by our senior strategy consultant and CSRD expert, Maurits de Munck.
CSRD changed. The value of doing the work hasn’t.
For the past few years, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) has pushed companies to take a closer look at sustainability performance. This European legislation requires companies to report on how their activities affect people and the environment, and how sustainability issues can affect their business.
But preparing for CSRD is about more than reporting. It raises important questions: Where does your business have the biggest impact? Which sustainability issues create risks or opportunities? And what can you do to address them?
At The Terrace, we’ve helped organisations turn these questions into clear priorities and practical actions. And while recent changes to the CSRD mean fewer companies are required to report, the value of understanding and improving your sustainability performance remains.
Making double materiality work
An important part of the CSRD is the Double Materiality Assessment (DMA). It helps organisations understand two things: how their business affects people and the environment, and how sustainability issues can affect the business itself.
But we have never seen a DMA as just a compliance exercise. Done well, it helps organisations focus on what matters most and make informed decisions about where to invest their time and resources.
For The Social Hub and Calco, for example, we conducted DMAs to help translate their sustainability ambitions into clear priorities. We then also took the next step: after completing the DMA, we conducted a CSRD gap analysis to identify what was already in place and where further action was needed. This resulted in a practical action plan, covering topics such as greenhouse gas emissions and employment conditions, and linking sustainability reporting to strategic improvements across the business. For Calco, we also developed a roadmap towards net zero. This gave Calco concrete priorities and measurable actions to support its sustainability ambitions, beyond simply meeting reporting requirements.
Our work with ASICS shows that materiality isn’t a one-off exercise either. We supported ASICS in validating its existing DMA, using desk research, workshops and stakeholder interviews to check whether its material topics were still relevant in a changing business environment.
And sometimes, collaboration can make the process more efficient. Together with trade associations NCV and NVZ, we developed a shared starting point to double materiality for companies in the cosmetics, personal care and cleaning products sectors. By identifying common sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities, and translating them into a practical online tool with SALACIA, we gave member companies a clear starting point they could adapt to their own situation. This saves time, avoids duplicated effort and makes a complex process more manageable.
Then came Omnibus: what changed?
In 2025, the European Commission introduced the Omnibus package: a set of proposals aimed at simplifying EU sustainability legislation and reducing the reporting burden for businesses.
Following the adoption of the changes in 2026, the CSRD has a much narrower scope. Under the revised EU rules, mandatory sustainability reporting is generally focused on companies with more than 1,000 employees and more than €450 million in annual net turnover.
For many organisations that had already started preparing for CSRD, this means they will no longer be required to complete the full reporting process.
So, was all that preparation wasted?
We don’t think so.
Even without a reporting obligation, the questions behind the CSRD remain relevant. Customers, investors, banks and business partners still want reliable information about sustainability performance. And understanding your biggest impacts, risks and opportunities helps you make better business decisions.
The work already done can still provide a valuable foundation: identifying what matters, revealing where improvements are needed and helping organisations set meaningful priorities.
From CSRD to VSME: finding the right approach
For organisations no longer required to report under CSRD, the Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for SMEs (VSME) offers a simpler way to structure and share sustainability information with customers, banks and business partners.
At The Terrace, we help organisations determine what makes sense for them: adopting VSME, building on an existing DMA or using previous CSRD preparations to improve sustainability performance. The goal is not reporting for its own sake, but making sustainability efforts practical and valuable.
Turning sustainability insights into action
Regulations may change, but the value of understanding your sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities remains. Get in touch with us below to explore your next steps with CSRD.
