FAQ on Sustainable Development

Unlike the insertion of a seal, where the specific steps or requirements are specified, which dictate how something is to be implemented, ISO 20121 certification only requires that the management system be in place.

Requirements prior to the audit:

• Conducting the management review
• Completion of the internal audit

We calculate the cost of assessing your event or organisation based on the size of your company, its scope and reach (national or international), the number and size of your projects, and your specific requirements with regard to the scope of application of the certificate.

We would be happy to provide you with a personalised quote. Simply give us a call or send us an email.

On 9 March 2017, the German Bundestag passed the CSR Directive Implementation Act. According to this, capital market-oriented companies (within the meaning of § 264a of the German Commercial Code (HGB)) and large corporations (within the meaning of Section 267 HGB: €20 million in total assets or €40 million in sales revenue in the twelve months prior to the balance sheet date) and employ more than 500 people on average over the year must submit a non-financial statement.

Subsidiaries, regardless of the registered office of the parent company, are not required to prepare a separate CSR report. Provided that the parent company submits a CSR report that complies with EU regulations.

The relevant companies must submit their non-financial statements for financial years beginning after 31 December 2016. These can be published either as part of the management report or separately in the sustainability report. The deadline for publication is four months after the reporting date (as for the consolidated financial statements).

The company's business model must be described and the five aspects addressed: environmental, employee and social issues, respect for human rights, and combating corruption and bribery ( § 289c (1) and (2) HGB). Six disclosures must be made for each of these five non-financial aspects in accordance with § 289c (3) HGB:

• the concepts pursued (including the due diligence processes applied)
• the results of the concepts pursued
• the significant risks associated with the company's own business activities that are very likely to have or will have a serious negative impact on the five non-financial aspects mentioned, as well as the handling of these risks
• the significant risks associated with business relationships and the company's own products and services that are highly likely to have a serious negative impact on the non-financial aspects mentioned, as well as how these risks are managed the most significant non-financial performance indicators that are relevant to the
• company's business activities, as well as
• references to the amounts reported in the annual financial statements and additional explanations thereof, insofar as this is necessary for understanding.

In addition, the provision in § 289c (4) HGB also allows for the application of the ‘comply or explain’ approach in the non-financial statement. According to this, a reporting company may refrain from pursuing one or more of the five aspects mentioned. However, the reasons for this must be explained.

In order to implement the requirements of the CSR Directive, companies should follow existing standards and frameworks. Otherwise, they must explain why the recommended frameworks were not used. The ‘comply or explain’ approach also applies here.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), among others, provide guidance and give companies pointers on how to tailor their sustainability strategy. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines, version G4, and the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards) are helpful for conducting a materiality analysis and providing guidance on the formulation of indicators. With the aim of achieving legal compliance with the CSR Directive Implementation Act, the German Council for Sustainable Development has revised the DNK and the explanatory notes and checklists issued for its implementation and now also offers clear guidance on the requirements for the content and process of preparing non-financial statements.

A substantive audit of the non-financial reporting content presented is not mandatory. However, if a company voluntarily has the information audited, the audit results must also be published. If, on the other hand, the non-financial reporting content is also included in the group or management report, it must either be marked as unaudited or audited in the same depth.

CSR (corporate social responsibility) is a sub-area of sustainability, but is often mistakenly used as a synonym today. However, CSR has its origins in the private sector, developed from the ‘moralisation of management’ with a focus on social and societal issues. CSR tends to operate at the micro level, concentrating on individual companies.

Sustainability, on the other hand, encompasses society as a whole and therefore operates at the macro level. The term sustainability originally comes from forestry (state economy) and has its roots in environmental protection. Since the Rio Conference in 1992, this environmental protection concept has developed and established itself at the political level as a model that is oriented towards society as a whole.

Certification is a comparison of target and actual performance. If this comparison is positive and certain (control) processes are in place, an internationally recognised ISO certificate, for example, is issued after the audit has been passed. Quality, environmental protection and occupational safety certifications have been successfully practised in companies worldwide for many years.

When it comes to CSR/sustainability certification, opinions are divided: proponents of certification draw on an existing model for management system certification and expand it in line with ISO 26000 to include specific areas of action such as human rights and stakeholder management. Examples of certification based on this model include ONR 192500 and IQNet RS 10.

Opponents emphasise that CSR/sustainability cannot be certified because there are currently no measurable, internationally recognised standards for what constitutes ‘sustainable’ (SOLL) and there are unlikely to be any in the future. This is precisely what is reflected in the long process of developing ISO 26000 and its content: it is a ‘guide to sustainable development’ and not a certification standard.

However, there is another way – a large number of internationally agreed indicators that provide information on sustainable development or are considered essential for it. If these are met, this can enable a location assessment and benchmarking. The following applies here: the more comprehensive the catalogue of requirements, the broader the coverage of fields of action – and the more precise the assessment of sustainability performance.

The GUTcert Sustainability Check covers the three pillars of sustainability and includes all current requirements. Companies that complete the check receive a certificate for their internal and external communication.

The GUTcert Sustainability Check is suitable for any company, regardless of size or industry. You can find a product presentation here.