UPDATE: Click here for the 2019 Research Report, released in February 2020

The EU Non-financial Reporting Directive which came into effect in 2018 requires large companies and financial corporations to disclose information regarding their impacts on society and environment. Civil society has however criticised that the EU Directive fails to specify in sufficient detail what information is to be disclosed. To address this, the Alliance for Corporate Transparency project aims to assess how European companies are implementing the requirements. 

Initial findings of the project, published in February 2019, suggest that of the over 100 companies (including energy and resource extraction, ICT and health care companies) assessed most fail to provide information which is clear enough in terms of concrete issues, targets and principles and thus to understand their impacts and risks, as well as strategies to address them.

Based on the results of their research, the Alliance is suggesting that the legislation should at a minimum clarify requirements for the disclosure of

• long-term transition plans to a zero-carbon economy by companies in sectors with biggest impacts and risks

• biodiversity risks and impacts

• the company’s determination of salient human rights issues and their management.

More information is available below.