Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) advises the UN Global Compact Network Germany on a global comparative analysis of sustainability reporting frameworks which will be available for UN Global Compact networks and members globally.

The initiative encompasses an in-depth examination and comparison of the most relevant reporting standards to date, including the Communication on Progress (CoP) under the UN Global Compact, the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD, incl. its European Sustainability Reporting Standards. ESRS), the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

The Freshfields Lab, our global platform that brings together business and technology to develop and deliver client facing digital solutions, will integrate the legal work into a digital platform to ease the use of this comparative mapping for companies.

The product, expected to be launched in Q1/2 2024, will serve as a guidance tool for UN Global Compact members, including clients of Freshfields, worldwide.

Prof. Dr. Juliane Hilf who co-leads the project with Prof. Dr. Christoph H. Seibt said, “The number of sustainability reporting standards have increased significantly over the last decade. While ideally such standards would improve the quality of sustainability information to enable better decision making of stakeholders, the wide range of alternative and sometimes competing reporting approaches remains a challenge.”

Dr. Marlen Vesper-Gräske adds, “We are very happy to assist the UN Global Compact network Germany with this complex task that eventually will facilitate sustainability reporting for companies and provides insight into some of the most important reporting frameworks.”

Our legal team includes Partners Prof. Dr. Juliane Hilf and Prof. Dr. Christoph H. Seibt, Principal Associate Dr. Marlen Vesper-Gräske, Associate Felicitas Weber, Senior Transaction Lawyer Juan Sebastián Villacis Montalvo, Transaction Lawyer Luis Rojas Jiménez, and Trainee Merle Elberg.

The Freshfields Lab team includes Partner Dr. Gerrit Beckhaus, Senior Legal Solutions Engineer Philipp Thumfart and Senior Transaction Lawyers Kerim Siai and Marcus Breuing.