
10 Reasons to Track a Corporate Carbon Footprint
In this article, we’ll explain what a corporate carbon footprint is, why it’s important, how it is measured, and reasons why your company should track it too.
ESG / CSR
Industries
As businesses across the European Union face stricter compliance requirements, effective sustainability data management has become essential for meeting Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) mandates.
CSRD reporting continues to become more compulsory for companies across the European Union, with many businesses seeking the use of specialized CSRD software solutions to optimize their entire reporting process and ensure regulatory compliance.
Select small to medium sized businesses will also be required to comply with CSRD reporting by 2026 – making now the perfect time to read about the different CSRD reporting platforms available, and ensure the best choice is made for your business.
In this article, we’ll give a quick recap on the CSRD, the 5 best CSRD report platforms in 2025, and examine how these solutions can streamline your company's sustainability reporting process while ensuring accurate collection and verification of quantitative sustainability data.
The CSRD, otherwise known as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, is an EU-based piece of regulatory framework designed to standardize sustainability performance, measurement, and disclosure across EU member states, helping to encourage improved reporting processes and promote more sustainable business practices.
Ultimately, the CSRD is an effort to help work towards carbon neutrality and fulfill the goals depicted in the European Green Deal – and can help transform how organizations report their environmental, social, and governance impacts.
According to the official implementation timeline published by the European Commission, the CSRD currently requires all companies already required to comply with the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) with two out of three of the following:
However, the CSRD is slowly becoming imperative amongst smaller-sized businesses – such as is depicted in the drop down sections below:
By 2025, the CSRD will be compulsory for large companies with:
By 2026, the CSRD will be mandatory for small and medium sized companies with:
By 2027, companies in member states will be required to include the new due diligence rules to further divulge the negative impact their business endeavors have on the people and the planet.
By 2028, the CSRD will be required for all non-EU companies with:
The CSRD aims to encourage greater transparency and accountability, as companies will be required to implement robust ESG data management systems to share the impact of their business activities on the climate, their climate risks, and how the company manages these roadblocks via their sustainability efforts.
CSRD reporting is essential to help build greater transparency across various industries around the world, which is paramount in our global efforts to reduce climate change.
According to the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG), specialized CSRD reporting software and sustainability reporting obligations have become imperative for the estimated 49,000 companies required to implement standardized sustainability disclosures by 2026.
In the midst of climate change, transparency is crucial – as it can help to build greater trust amongst employees, customers, investors and stakeholders – all of which can help businesses to succeed with honesty and prevent environmental scandals such as greenwashing. ”
The main goal of a CSRD reporting software is to help simplify the process for companies by assisting them with collecting data and providing them with the proper tools to make sure their business is compliant with their requirements under CSRD reporting.
Here are a few additional reasons why CSRD reporting delivers several critical benefits for sustainable business development and support the global effort to mitigate climate change:
The table below will further depict the benefits of seeking manage sustainability data with CSRD compliance software:
Benefit | Explanation |
---|---|
Streamlines data collection across departments | Facilitates centralized tracking of energy use, emissions, and waste by aggregating inputs from finance, operations, and procurement teams into one cohesive system. |
Improves audit readiness | Organizes documentation and data trails for all ESG-related activities, making third-party verifications and government audits faster and more efficient. |
Enhances stakeholder communication | Generates easily digestible reports and dashboards to share sustainability progress with employees, board members, and community partners. |
Reduces risk of greenwashing claims | Ensures that sustainability claims are backed by verified data and structured reporting, minimizing reputational and legal risks. |
Supports continuous performance improvement | Provides year-over-year comparisons, benchmarking, and AI-driven insights to help companies continuously reduce emissions and improve ESG metrics. |
CSRD reporting will ultimately create a ripple effect across all other areas of companies and their future business activities – as they will grow more cognizant of the overall impact created by their business activities, and seek to adjust them accordingly for CSRD reporting and other future environmental initiatives.
We know how challenging it can be choose the right software solutions to assist you with your double materiality assessment, gap analysis, and financial data management – which is why we have compiled our favorite CSRD software for ensuring compliance and smooth data flow.
CSRD reporting is relatively new, which means that CSRD reporting software has yet to accumulate a long-standing track record – but don’t worry, we’ve rounded up our top 5 CSRD reporting platforms to share.
As CSRD-specific reporting solutions are still new and continuously evolving as the regulatory framework matures, our evidence-based analysis will help to identify clear market leaders delivering measurable compliance results.
Here our top 5 picks CSRD reporting software, all of which demonstrate superior technical architecture and documented implementation success in 2025:
We offer our own CSRD reporting platform at Greenly!
Our platform aims to simplify the process of CSRD reporting with the option to conduct a double materiality assessment, work with certified partners, risk assessment tools, and streamlined data collection.
Our key features to assist your company in meeting its sustainability targets includes:
The flip cards below (move your cursor over the card to discover more) will provide additional benefits of seeking to use Greenly to collect emissions data, simplify ESG compliance, and ensure CSRD compliance:
Brightest is a great choice for your company if your business is looking for a more well-rounded approach to CSRD reporting. This is because Brightest is focused on streamlining ESG management, social impact, and sustainability in a single all-in-one platform – all of which are relevant to CSRD reporting.
Key aspects of Brightest include:
Brightest is best for companies looking for an all-inclusive platform for CSRD reporting, carbon accounting, and ESG management.
Enablon is a CSRD reporting platform that allows users to view a full scope for the best ESG management possible while also helping companies to improve their sustainable performance and ultimately assist them with their CSRD reporting.
Enablon is a good choice for companies who want to succeed in other sustainability reporting as it provides a holistic set of tools to comply with other sustainability reporting requirements – such as with data collection and analysis.
Enablon offers clients:
Enablon is the best choice for companies looking for a CSRD reporting platform with detailed data collection and analysis that can be used for a variety of reporting requirements.
This CSRD reporting platform allows users to manage their ESG risks in addition to utilizing and ESG opportunities, ultimately – with the goal in mind to help companies take a proactive approach to sustainability.
One of the best things about Convene ESG is its user-friendly interface that can be used regardless of your company’s size or industry.
Additional key offerings from Convene ESG include:
Convene works to make data collection and management simpler so that companies can make it easier to comply with climate-related disclosures.
IBM Envizi is a CSRD reporting platform that adheres to the requirements of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
IBM Envizi is a suitable choice for companies looking for an inclusive CSRD reporting platform, as IBM works to ensure ESG requirements are met across various ESG frameworks – from Sustainability Accounting Standard Board (SASB), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), or the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Therefore, IBM Envizi might be the best choice for a company with multiple international operations or wants to ensure climate-related disclosures can be adhered to regardless of the geographical location where reporting sustainability information will take place.
Your company can get started with CSRD reporting by selecting a framework to follow, setting goals, collecting and analyzing data, and keeping stakeholder engagement in mind.
CSRD reporting is multidimensional and requires multiple steps, which is why most companies will refer to the assistance of a CSRD reporting platform.
Here are some things to keep in mind if your company is going to move forward with CSRD reporting:
Overall, complying with the CSRD can prove challenging – but we hope this list of our favorite CSRD reporting software can help your company to get started with this worldwide movement.
If reading this article about the best 5 CSRD reporting platforms of 2024 has made you interested in reducing your carbon emissions to further fight against climate change – Greenly can help you!
It can be challenging to decide which CSRD reporting platform is best for your company, but don’t worry – Greenly is here to help. Click here to schedule a demo to see how Greenly can help you find ways to effectively implement and utilize a better climate strategy.
Greenly can help you make an environmental change for the better, starting with a carbon footprint assessment to know how much carbon emissions your company produces.
European Commission https://commission.europa.eu/document/download/71ca40f4-7929-42fc-922c-8a0073b0660f_en?filename=CSDDD%20Omnibus%20proposal_0.pdf and https://finance.ec.europa.eu/capital-markets-union-and-financial-markets/company-reporting-and-auditing/company-reporting/corporate-sustainability-reporting_en
EU Parliament News https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20221107IPR49611/sustainable-economy-parliament-adopts-new-reporting-rules-for-multinationals
EFRAG https://www.efrag.org/en/projects/noneu-groups-standard-setting/research-phase
KPMG https://kpmg.com/nl/en/home/topics/environmental-social-governance/corporate-sustainability-reporting-directive.html
Brightest https://www.brightest.io/
Wolters Kluwer https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/solutions/enablon/esg
Azeus https://www.azeus.com/products-services/azeus-products/convene-esg/
IBM Envizi https://www.ibm.com/products/envizi/esg-reporting-frameworks/csrd-reporting