Sustainability reporting is changing.
For a while, it was driven by one thing: compliance. Regulations like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) set the pace, and companies responded accordingly.
Now, that pressure is shifting. For many organisations, it’s easing or disappearing altogether.
Which raises a useful question: what happens next?
The pressure may be off. The responsibility isn’t.
Less regulation doesn’t mean less need to report. If anything, it puts more responsibility back on the organisation. Without strict frameworks to follow, the question becomes less about what you have to say and more about what you choose to say.
As Andreas Rash points out, the absence of regulation doesn’t remove the expectation for transparency. Stakeholders still want clarity. They still expect credible, data-driven communication.
The difference is: now you have more control over how you deliver it.
From compliance exercise to strategic tool
What we’re seeing isn’t companies stepping back. They’re stepping forward, just differently.
Sustainability reporting is becoming more strategic. More connected to the wider business and more integrated across functions, from communications to investor relations to sustainability teams.
Instead of asking “what do we need to include?”, the better question is “how can this work harder for us?”
Reporting as a trust engine
At its best, reporting does more than share information; it builds trust.
But that only happens when data is translated into something people can understand and care about. Not just tables and disclosures, but stories. Clear narratives. Real-world relevance.
A good example is Carlsberg Group’s Brewing Tomorrow programme. It works because it connects credible data with a clear, consistent story. It gives stakeholders something to follow, not just something to review.
They have shifted from using reporting solely as output to using reporting for engagement.
Beyond the once-a-year PDF
For many organisations, the annual report is still the main event. A single, high-effort moment, published once and then largely left behind.
But stakeholders don’t engage once a year. They form opinions continuously, and they expect organisations to communicate in the same way. This is why more teams we’re working with are moving towards a year-round approach and using reporting content across multiple channels, in different formats, over time.
This approach isn’t replacing the annual report entirely but is reducing its role as the only moment that matters.
Compliance is the starting point, not the finish line
Regulation still matters and it sets a baseline but it shouldn’t define the ambition.
The most effective organisations treat compliance as a foundation, something to build from, not stop at. The real value of reporting isn’t in meeting requirements. It’s in using what you already have—your data, your progress, your story—to communicate clearly and consistently with the people who matter.
So… should we kill the annual report?
Not entirely, but we should rethink what it’s for and more importantly, what sits around it. The opportunity now isn’t just to produce better reports, it’s to create better communication.
Want to explore this further?
We’re running a series of workshops called “Let’s kill the annual report as we know it”. They’re designed for teams who want to move beyond compliance-led reporting and start creating something more useful, more engaging and more valuable.
A space to rethink. Test ideas. And build a different approach, together.
