Disclosing Sustainability: Throwback to First Sustainability Reporting – What Next?

Standards (ESRS), the CSRD reshapes how organisations manage and report sustainability performance.

This paper analysed the first CSRD reporting cycle, focusing in RTE, the French Transmission

System Operator (TSO), and integrating comparative insights from other European TSOs reporting. The 2024 sustainability report not only as a compliance milestone but also as a catalyst for organizational and strategic transformation, reinforcing the integration of sustainability into governance, strategy, and operations. Key achievements include improved cross-functional coordination, better ESG data structuring, stronger internal awareness, and closer alignment between sustainability and business decision-making.

The findings highlight three interrelated areas for sector-wide progress: convergence in double materiality analyses, Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction, and human rights and environmental due diligence. Collectively, they underscore the systemic nature of sustainability challenges and the importance of shared methodologies, aligned expectations, and collaboration. When strategically embraced, CSRD reporting can serve as a lever for longterm transformation, fostering innovation, guiding capital allocation, and positioning TSOs as key contributors to climate neutrality, the energy transition, and industrial resilience. 1