CSRD reporting: complete guide for February 2026

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is the EU's mandatory framework for corporate sustainability disclosure, replacing the Non-Financial Reporting Directive to expand ESG reporting obligations to numerous companies within or connected to the EU. CSRD demands rigorous sustainability reporting akin to financial reporting, necessitating third-party assurance and AI compliance certification to ensure disclosed information's reliability. The Omnibus package redefined reporting thresholds, reducing compliance burdens for many firms, while the directive's phased implementation spans three waves based on company size and geographic footprint. CSRD's double materiality assessment obliges organizations to evaluate sustainability topics through both impact and financial lenses, determining which of the twelve European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) are applicable. AI systems used in processing ESG data must incorporate governance controls and audit trails to satisfy assurance requirements, with platforms like Openlayer providing continuous monitoring and evidence capture to make AI-calculated sustainability metrics auditable. The directive emphasizes embedding governance into AI operations to enable compliance, reduce verification costs, and ensure that AI systems support regulatory confidence by maintaining transparency and operational controls.