EY Cyprus has organized an event to present the challenges that many Cypriot companies will face in implementing the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The event, which is part of EY's ongoing efforts to provide updates on compliance and sustainability-related issues, took place on October 9th 2023 in the firm’s offices in Nicosia, and was attended by executives from Cypriot and also multinational Cyprus-based companies.
Following the European Green Deal, the European Commission implemented the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) in January 2023, which modernizes and strengthens the rules regarding the social and environmental information that companies must disclose. The directive aims to align sustainability reporting with financial reporting and ensure consistency among the sustainability reports submitted by companies, allowing stakeholders to use comparable and reliable sustainability information.
During the event, the ESG Suite tool, the holistic solution of EY Cyprus was also presented. The tool integrates all the requirements and elements arising from the Directive and the required standards, and is needed for every business to be effectively and reliably assessed.
Stavros Violaris, Partner and Financial Accounting and Advisory Services (FAAS) and Climate Change & Sustainability Services (CCaSS) Leader, EY Cyprus, welcomed the attendees and introduced the topic, emphasizing the importance of the new directive for Cypriot businesses.
Panos Choutris, Senior Manager, CCaSS, provided an overview of the recent developments at the European level, including the introduction of this new directive.
The changes introduced by the CSRD, their impact on business operations, and compliance and assurance obligations were analyzed by Constantina Charalambidou, Senior Manager, FAAS.
Panos Choutris then presented the ESG Suite, EY's holistic approach to providing all the necessary elements for businesses to be prepared for ESG matters, particularly in the context of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
Simos Simou, Senior Manager, Indirect and Environmental Taxes – Tax Transformation & Controversy, discussed the introduction of green taxation in Cyprus.
The event concluded with a brief summary of the presentations by Stavros Violaris.
On the occasion of the event, Stavros Violaris also stated, ''The adoption of the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is a necessary and significant step in addressing climate change and other sustainability issues, through the enhancement of corporate sustainability reporting standards. Under the new directive, up to 50,000 large and listed enterprises across Europe, as well as listed SMEs, will now be required to submit sustainability reports, compared to approximately 11,000 companies that filed reports under the previous directive NFRD. To meet the growing demand for sustainability information from regulatory authorities and stakeholders, these businesses will need to adapt their reporting processes, ensure compliance with the new standards, strengthen data management, and integrate sustainability information with financial reports.''
