For a long time, ESG topics were perceived as peripheral in many finance teams.
Today, that is no longer really the case.
With the CSRD and ESRS, environmental, social, and governance issues are gradually taking on a more structuring role in company analysis, risk management, and investment decisions.
And what is interesting is that this evolution goes far beyond the simple regulatory framework. Several experts from Horizon & Beyond’s sustainable finance MOOC explain precisely why these new standards are already changing the way financial players interpret company performance.
1. CSRD is not just about reporting
CSRD is often presented as a new reporting obligation.
In reality, it mainly pushes companies to better structure their understanding of:
- risks,
- dependencies,
- impacts,
- and transformations linked to the transition.
In the MOOC, Géraldine Gouges (Rothschild & Co) explains how the entire financial ecosystem — investors, regulators, ESG agencies, banks — is evolving toward a more harmonized framework, where sustainability information is gradually becoming a full-fledged element of analysis.
The objective is not only to produce more data.
Above all, it is about making information:
- more readable,
- more comparable,
- and more useful for decision-making.
2. ESRS create a common language for sustainability
At first glance, ESRS may seem technical.
Yet their logic is quite simple: to create a common framework allowing companies and investors to speak the same language.
In several MOOC videos, speakers show that this standardization responds to a need that has become essential:
better understanding companies’ trajectories, their transition risks, and their adaptation strategies.
The modules dedicated to ESG data also highlight a key point:
without comparable and reliable data, it becomes difficult to properly assess the risks and opportunities related to the transition.
This is precisely what ESRS aim to improve.
3. Double materiality opens up a more comprehensive view of the company
Among the most discussed concepts around the CSRD is double materiality.
Behind this sometimes intimidating term lies a fairly intuitive idea:
analyze both:
- the impact of ESG issues on the company,
- and the impact of the company on its economic, social, and natural environment.
In the MOOC, several experts show that this approach expands the strategic analysis of the company:
- value chain,
- critical dependencies,
- risk exposure,
- stakeholder expectations,
- evolution of business models.
Corinne Lepage, former Minister of the Environment, recalls in her video that this logic of double materiality is part of a broader transformation of transparency and corporate responsibility practices at the European level. And even if the regulatory timeline continues to evolve, the underlying movement is well underway: ESG issues are gradually becoming integrated into economic and financial mechanisms.
What is already changing for finance
CSRD does not operate alone.
It interacts with:
- the EU taxonomy,
- SFDR,
- transition plans,
- due diligence obligations,
- and the entire European sustainable finance framework.
In the MOOC, several speakers show how these regulations are gradually building a common infrastructure to better direct financial flows and improve the understanding of transition-related risks.
Fabrice Bonnifet (C3D / The Shift Project) summarizes this evolution well when he explains that a company’s performance can no longer be analyzed solely from a financial perspective, but also in terms of its ability to operate sustainably within environmental and social limits.
Understanding the new rules of sustainable finance
CSRD and ESRS still raise many questions.
And this is normal: practices are evolving rapidly, expectations are progressively taking shape, and companies are moving at different speeds.
Horizon & Beyond’s sustainable finance MOOC brings together 28 experts — investors, regulators, researchers, executives, and ESG specialists — to offer a clear and accessible perspective on today’s major issues:
- CSRD,
- ESRS,
- double materiality,
- taxonomy,
- SFDR,
- ESG data,
- transition plans,
- and the transformation of business models.
👉 Join Horizon & Beyond’s Full MOOC to better understand the ongoing transformations in sustainable finance.
👉 Join Horizon & Beyond’s Essential MOOC to learn the basics of sustainable finance in less than 2 hours.