EFRAG prepares Q&A Explanations and upcoming workshops for draft sector classification for ESRS

On 5 February 2024, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) published the first set of 12 Explanations to questions submitted via the EFRAG ESRS Q&A Platform. Furthermore, EFRAG announced that it will organise online workshops in February 2024 to collect feedback on the current version of the draft European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) – SEC1 Sector Classification, which is expected to be published for public consultation soon.

First set of 12 Explanations

EFRAG launched in 2023 the Q&A platform to facilitate meaningful dialogue with stakeholders, assisting them in the implementation process and fostering a better understanding of European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). EFRAG is providing answers to those questions in the form of Implementation Guidance, which is exposed to public feedback before being finalised, or Explanations, which are not exposed to public feedback.

Explanations address questions by clarifying information already provided in the ESRS, guiding companies on where to find specific details within the standards. The Explanations released are grouped in chapters according to their nature (cross-cutting, environment, social, governance). EFRAG intends to issue a collection of Explanations per quarter to facilitate accessibility.

Workshops for Draft ESRS SEC 1

EFRAG will organise online workshops in February 2024 to gather stakeholder feedback for the classification system to distinguish between different economic activities, which would be used for the sector-specific ESRS. The Draft ESRS SEC 1 is based on the existing NACE Rev. 2-1 classification system (Nomenclature générale des Activités Economiques dans les Communautés Européennes), categorising the NACE business activities by ESRS sectors based on common characteristics of sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities.

Interested parties are encouraged to participate by subscribing to EFRAG’s Sector-Specific Communities and selecting the sector(s) of interest.