At a well-attended online conference, SwissHoldings took an in-depth look at issues relating to climate reporting. This reporting enables companies to systematically disclose their efforts to reduce emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. The greatest challenges include the very dynamic legal developments, the determination of emissions along the entire value chain and the actual identification and assessment of climate-related risks. With regard todigital reporting, the association currently sees no urgent need todevelopXBRLformats specifically for the Swiss Climate Reporting Ordinance or tosupplementexisting formats in this regard .
SwissHoldings attaches great importance to the exchange of experience among its member companies. Regularly organised workshops and conferences are intended to provide SwissHoldings members with a platform for exchanging expertise and building their own network of peers. The workshop held last week is part of a series of online conferences organised by the association on the topic of ESG. The conference focused on the current regulation on reporting on climate issues, which came into force on 1 January 2024 .
From the perspective of the member companies, the internal assessment of opportunities and risks in various climate scenarios makes a significant contribution to developing a common understanding of the upcoming goals and challenges in the implementation of the climate strategy across the individual business units. This assessment process is therefore not just a compliance activity. Rather, it enables a company to better identify its business opportunities on the transition path to a low-carbon, resource-conserving economy.
Close international coordination remains key
Oneof the biggest challenges in climate reporting is the collection of high-quality data. In particular, the CO2emissions of business partners in the extended value chain (so-called “Scope 3″) are difficult to record. Companies therefore oftenhave to resort to estimates. A further difficulty is that legal developments in this area are currently highly dynamic .Strategic foresight is therefore required from companies. In order to avoid costly adjustments to reporting systems in the future, the leeway provided by the Implementing Ordinance must be actively utilised. The ordinance recommends applying the so-called TCFD recommendations. At the same time, companies can alternatively prove that they fulfil the climate reporting obligation in other ways, such as in accordance with the GRI guidelines, the ISSB requirements or the new ESRS reporting standard developed by the EU.
No Swiss Finish for the new requirements for digital reporting
The regulation also providesfor a new obligation for digital reporting . It comes into force one year after the actual ordinance for the 2025 financial year. Themain concern of SwissHoldings is to avoida “Swiss finish” for the requirements formachine-readable data formats. This is because the digitalisation of sustainability data is also being actively promoted in the EU. For example, the new CSRD sustainability reporting directive stipulates that every sustainability data point disclosed by companies must be provided with a precisely specified digital label in future. However, the corresponding requirements are still at the draft stage – they have not yet been finalised. Against this background , the association currently seesno need to develop a specific new (XBRL) format or adaptations to existing formats for the Swiss ordinance on climate reporting .Instead ,developments at EUlevel should be awaited. The flexible wording of the ordinance also allows Swiss companies to fulfil the new obligations with conventional machine-readable data formats (e.g. PDF or Excel) until the relevant EU requirements have been finalised and come into force.
Contact
Peter Burkhalter | Co-Head of the SwissHoldings Expert Group “Accounting and Reporting”, Head Accounting Swisscom│ 41 (0)58 221 62 44
Denise Laufer | Member of the Executive Board SwissHoldings | 41 (0)31 356 68 60
