In this edition of In Depth – our series of insights and views from across ESB – Group Head of Sustainability Sharon McManus takes stock of how debates on corporate sustainability are shifting, and how companies like ESB are responding.
A few months back, we co-hosted an event marking a decade since the Paris Agreement on climate change was signed in 2015. As we reflected on progress and challenges in the meantime, it became clear how much the world has changed in those 10 years.
Paris felt like a genuine watershed moment at the time, as if the whole world had woken up to climate change and resolved to tackle it together. This sense of forward momentum was felt in the corporate world, too, as sustainability became an integral part of business planning and investment strategies. And it was reflected in ambitious legislation like the EU Green Deal announced in 2019. This package of measures included the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which aimed to put sustainability reporting on the same footing as financial reporting and came into force in 2025 before stuttering to a temporary halt halfway through the year.
Pressures and pushback
Fast forward to today, and the optimism underpinning the Paris Agreement seems to belong to a simpler age – even as the physical risks from climate change become increasingly clear. While there has been real progress on decarbonisation in Ireland and globally since 2015, sustainability commitments have come under pressure from competing priorities in recent years in the wake of a pandemic, energy crisis and rising inflation. The US in particular has seen open pushback against environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements for business and corporate investment.
While the EU’s commitment to its climate goals remains firm, economic and geopolitical developments have put the question of European competitiveness back in the spotlight. A 2024 report by Mario Draghi on future EU competitiveness called for sustainability goals to be balanced with regulatory burden on businesses. The European Commission responded with an ‘Omnibus’ legislative package in February, which includes measures to simplify the CSRD and delay its further implementation for two years.
Navigating a new landscape
What does this all mean for businesses on the ground? Undoubtedly, the ESG backlash has had a psychological impact on organisations of all kinds – particularly for those where sustainability may not have been a strategic business objective. At ESB, we are in a different position, however. Our commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2040 means that sustainability is at the very heart of our strategy, and we have been working for a number of years to embed a sustainable mindset across our operations.
We remain committed to transparent and robust sustainability performance reporting because we see the value in it – to our own workforce, our investors and all our stakeholders. We are continuing to prepare a CSRD-aligned sustainability report to be published in 2026 and 2027, and will publish a CSRD-compliant sustainability statement as part of our annual report in 2028 as per the revised CSRD proposals.
At ESB, we’ve been reporting on sustainability for many years, long before the CSRD came into force. We’ve embedded principles of materiality, transparency, and performance tracking through frameworks like the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and CSRD now builds on that foundation. It’s not a sudden departure; it’s a continuation –more structured, more comprehensive, and more assured.
We have been preparing for the move to CSRD reporting through our company-wide Sustainability Transformation Enablement Programme (STEP), designed to deliver the enhanced systems, processes and resourcing needed to meet the reporting requirements. While we closely monitor any legislative changes, we remain committed to transparent reporting and the benefits that CSRD can deliver for our own business and the sector more broadly.
The value of sustainability reporting
Firstly, CSRD has embedded the concept of ‘double materiality’: meaning an organisation needs to account not only for how external factors can have a financial impact on operations, but how its actions impact the environment and people around it. Far from just a box-ticking exercise, working to understand and communicate these impacts provides us with valuable insights to identify and manage risks and opportunities improve our decision making, and strengthen our engagement with stakeholders.
Secondly, comprehensive ESG reporting supports investment by giving investors a clear picture of sustainability across a company’s operations. While ESB is a semi-state company, we are heavily reliant on capital markets to fund the work needed to deliver on our net zero objectives. In that context, CSRD provides for a level playing field, transparency, and assurance – and this will only grow in importance as the world steps up investment in decarbonisation.
Thirdly, the tools and resources needed to implement CSRD can support a broader transformation. Our STEP programme, for instance, is not only about performance reporting – it is about embedding a culture of sustainability across the organisation, putting environmental stewardship and social responsibility at the core of everyone’s role within ESB. This is vital for putting our Sustainability Leadership Plan into action, and our mission to make a positive difference to our planet, the places we operate, and the people we work with and for.
In this boat together
Given our net zero purpose, sustainability has never been just a ‘nice to have’ or a ‘tick-box exercise’ for ESB – it is a business imperative. And this is a view shared by many working across the energy sector in Ireland. We had the opportunity to discuss the changing ESG landscape at a recent roundtable with representatives from industry, academia, government, and peer utilities and energy companies. While all acknowledged the challenges, the consensus was clear: there is no going back on our journey towards a more sustainable future. We are all in this boat together, and a clear commitment to sustainability and transparency in how we report our progress will be vital as we move forward in the energy transition.
Frameworks like CSRD are not just about compliance – they’re about strategy, resilience, and credibility. The idea that smaller or exempted companies might pause or opt out misses the bigger picture: impact isn’t measured by headcount, but by exposure and influence across value chains. And as a company central to Ireland’s energy system and energy transition, our impact – and responsibility – is significant.
Whether through regulation, investor expectations, or customer scrutiny, structured ESG data is becoming the price of admission to value chains. We understands this well. That’s why we see CSRD not as a burden but as an essential tool – supporting better decision-making, stronger governance, and clearer alignment with our sustainability strategy.
In short: CSRD may be delayed or softened in scope, but the world isn’t waiting. At ESB, we’re staying the course – because sustainability is not just about compliance. It’s about leadership.
Read more about sustainability at ESB here.