#Knowledge
Sustainability reporting
The sustainability report is complete. Emissions, energy consumption, supply chain information, actions, risks, and goals are now consolidated in a single document for the first time. This marks an important milestone and lays the groundwork for the next steps.
The next steps that make sense depend on your current situation: Is the goal to systematically reduce emissions? Do you need to respond more effectively to customer inquiries? Should your sustainability communications be more robust? Or is the focus on product requirements, ratings, or new regulatory requirements?
As a sustainability consulting firm, we help companies identify the appropriate next steps based on the report’s findings and implement them in a pragmatic manner.
A particularly obvious next step following the report is the developing a climate strategy. Energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions have often already been tracked in reporting. This data shows where emissions originate, which areas are particularly relevant, and where opportunities for reduction exist.
Building on this, climate goals can be defined, measures prioritized, and reduction pathways developed. In this way, the emissions inventory becomes a roadmap that specifies which measures can be implemented in the short term, where investments are needed, and how decarbonization can be planned in an economically sound manner.
Precisely because CO₂ is increasingly becoming a cost and risk factor, a climate strategy helps to combine sustainability with economic management.
While sustainability reports typically focus on the corporate level, the Product Carbon Footprint focuses on the product level. It shows which emissions occur throughout a product’s life cycle—from raw materials and production through transportation and use to disposal. The PCF is a particularly useful next step for companies that are part of supply chains or are required to provide product-related CO₂e data to customers. It highlights emission hotspots and establishes a foundation for optimization, product comparisons, and future data requirements.
Also with regard to the Digital Product Passport , this database is becoming increasingly important. This is because, in the future, product-related information must be more structured, traceable, and usable throughout the value chain. The company data collected in the report can serve as a good starting point for this. Building on this foundation, product-related data structures can be further developed in a targeted manner.
Much of the content from the sustainability report is subsequently used on websites, in presentations, and in sales or marketing materials. This is precisely where care is needed.
With the Empowering Consumers Directive, the requirements for sustainability and environmental claims are becoming more stringent. Claims such as “climate-neutral,” “environmentally friendly,” or “sustainable” must be clear, verifiable, and transparent.
According to the report, therefore, a Green Claims review is advisable: Which statements are supported by data and actions? Where is the wording too general? Which claims should be adjusted or explained in more detail?
This approach makes it possible to structure sustainability communications in a way that is credible, consistent, and more compliant with regulations.
External sustainability assessments such as EcoVadis often complement a sustainability report well. Many companies need such ratings to meet customer requirements or to showcase their sustainability performance internationally.
The report often already provides ample evidence of this: guidelines, key metrics, measures, goals, and processes. In the next step, this information can be specifically prepared for evaluation.
It’s not just about submitting documents. The key is to identify gaps, organize supporting documentation clearly, and derive specific improvement measures. In this way, the sustainability report can serve as a foundation for preparing for an EcoVadis assessment or for making targeted improvements.
Other European requirements may also be linked to the data collected in the report. These include, among others, the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR).
The sustainability report does not automatically meet these requirements. However, it can help identify relevant data early on—such as information on materials, packaging, resource consumption, supply chains, or product information. This makes it clear what information is already available and where processes or data structures should be further developed.
A sustainability report is an important milestone. The data collected shows which next steps make sense—from climate strategy and EmpCo-compliant communication to product carbon footprints and the Digital Product Passport, as well as EcoVadis and other regulatory requirements such as PPWR and ESPR.
We help companies prioritize and implement these follow-up measures in a targeted manner.
