ESRS standard · Environment

ESRS E1

Climate change

ESRS E1 is the climate-disclosure heart of the CSRD and the standard that is material for the overwhelming majority of companies. It covers your transition plan, greenhouse gas emissions across Scopes 1, 2 and 3, energy use, climate targets, and the financial effects of physical and transition risk. It carried the most datapoints of any topical standard (around 220 in the original version).

ESRS E1 in brief

The climate standard: GHG emissions, transition plan, energy and climate risk.

Back to all ESRSHow materiality decides if this applies

In scope

What ESRS E1 requires

  • E1-1 Transition plan: whether you have a plan to align with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees C and reaching climate neutrality by 2050; if not, you must say so and when you expect to adopt one.
  • E1-2 / E1-3 Policies and actions for climate mitigation and adaptation, with the resources behind them.
  • E1-4 Targets: GHG reduction targets (absolute or intensity), ideally science-based, with base year and milestones.
  • E1-5 Energy: total consumption and mix, split renewable vs non-renewable.
  • E1-6 Gross Scope 1, 2 and 3 and total GHG emissions - the core inventory. Scope 2 is disclosed both location-based and market-based; Scope 3 across the relevant of the 15 categories.
  • E1-7 GHG removals and carbon credits; E1-8 internal carbon pricing.
  • E1-9 Anticipated financial effects from material physical and transition risks and opportunities.

These requirements sit in the ESRS, adopted as Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772, under the CSRD, Directive (EU) 2022/2464.

Materiality

When ESRS E1 tends to be material

E1 is material for almost every company. Under double materiality a topic is material if it crosses the threshold on EITHER the impact or the financial side - and nearly every business either emits GHGs (impact) or faces transition risk (carbon pricing, regulation, demand shifts) or physical risk (heat, flood, supply disruption), so the financial lens usually triggers. ESRS 1 also requires any company that concludes climate is NOT material to give a detailed explanation - a high bar that pushes almost everyone to report E1.

Whether you must report ESRS E1 is decided by your double materiality assessment. A topic is material, and must be disclosed, if it is significant from either an impact or a financial perspective.

Datapoints are changing under the revised ESRS

The ESRS are being simplified under the Omnibus. The Commission published a draft revised delegated act for consultation from 6 May to 3 June 2026, cutting mandatory datapoints by around 60 to 70% and clarifying the materiality filter, with adoption targeted around 17 September 2026 and application from FY2027. The specific disclosure requirements in ESRS E1 may be restructured. Treat the current ESRS 2023/2772 as the law until the revision is adopted. Commission consultation

FAQ

ESRS E1: common questions

What does ESRS E1 require?
A climate transition plan, climate policies, actions and targets, total energy consumption and mix, gross Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions, GHG removals and carbon credits, internal carbon pricing, and the anticipated financial effects of climate risks and opportunities.
Does ESRS E1 require Scope 3 emissions?
Yes, where climate is material, E1-6 requires gross Scope 3 emissions across the relevant of the 15 GHG Protocol categories. Phase-in reliefs let first-time reporters and companies under 750 employees defer Scope 3 in the first year.
What is the E1 transition plan?
Under E1-1 you disclose whether you have a plan to align your business model and strategy with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees C and reaching climate neutrality by 2050, in line with EU climate law. If you have no plan, you must state that and say when you expect to adopt one.
When is climate "not material" under E1?
Rarely. If you conclude climate is not material, ESRS 1 requires a detailed explanation of how you reached that conclusion. In practice the financial-materiality lens (transition and physical risk) makes E1 material for almost all companies.

Work out which ESRS apply to you

Your double materiality assessment decides which topical standards you must report. Start there, then explore the rest of the ESRS.

Double materiality guide

This is guidance, not legal advice

This is guidance to help you understand ESRS E1 (Climate change), not legal advice. For decisions specific to your business, confirm with the official sources we link or a qualified adviser.

Sources

  1. [1]Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772 (ESRS Set 1) (EUR-Lex)retrieved 8 Jun 2026
  2. [2]Directive (EU) 2022/2464, the CSRD (EUR-Lex)retrieved 8 Jun 2026
  3. [3]EFRAG: European Financial Reporting Advisory Groupretrieved 8 Jun 2026
  4. [4]European Commission: consultation on revised ESRS (6 May 2026)retrieved 8 Jun 2026

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