A simple guide for companies who have used climate competitions as a tool for sustainable transition, and want to these include measures in your sustainability report.
As a sustainability officer in a small or medium-sized company, you already know that ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards) can be demanding to deal with. The list of what you can and should report on is endlessly long, and it often requires a little too much time from you. It is probably easy to feel a little stressed.
But the good news is that if you use climate competitions as measures for internal anchoring and restructuring, you can answer a number of requirements. Below you can see some concrete examples of how you can document climate competitions as measures when you report according to the ESRS data standard - be it for CSRD reporting or for other reasons.
ESRS indicators
Processes for participation with the workforce (S1-2)
- What ESRS requires: You must show how the employees are included in the sustainability work, and how they are given the opportunity to influence the measures that are implemented.
- How climate competitions help: A climate competition tool invites everyone in the organization to participate actively through daily, green actions. In this way, the sustainability work becomes a collective project, and not just something that individual employees or departments deal with.
Indicators for training and skill development (S1-13)
- What ESRS requires: Companies must document the number of training hours and how much training the employees receive in relevant skills.
- How climate competitions help: Climate competitions can be considered a training tool, since employees learn about various environmental measures in practice. The time they spend in the competition can be measured and reported as training hours, helping you meet the requirements easily.
Measures in significant areas (S1-4)
- What ESRS requires: You must explain how the measures you implement also address important themes and support the UN's sustainability goals (AR-41).
- How climate competitions help: Each activity in the competition can be linked to relevant sustainability goals, for example "Clean energy" or "Responsible consumption and production". This gives you concrete proof that you are working with several of the core areas at the same time.
Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (E1-3)
- What ESRS requires: Reporting on measures, resources and achieved results related to climate change (AR-26 and AR-29(b)).
- How climate competitions help: Competitions give you estimated CO₂ savings from the participants' actions. You can use this as an example of you taking concrete steps to reduce your climate footprint, although further analysis may be necessary for a more accurate figure.
Measures against pollution (E2-2)
- What ESRS requires: Make plans and measures to reduce pollution visible (AR-17).
- How climate competitions help: You can highlight activities that reduce the use of single-use plastics, chemicals or energy waste. Through the competition, you can see concretely how many people take the various measures, and this gives you documentation to show in the report.
Preservation of natural diversity (E4-3)
- What the ESRS requires: Report on initiatives to protect biodiversity and ecosystems (AR-26).
- How climate competitions help: Activities such as planting bee-friendly plants or cleaning the local environment can be included in the competition, which clearly shows that you are working with natural diversity.
Resource use and circular economy (E5-2)
- What ESRS requires: Reporting on measures to improve resource utilization and circular economy.
- How climate competitions help: Many competitions encourage reuse, repair, waste reduction and recycling. These measures are easy to count and provide valuable documentation in reporting.
Overview of measures and results (MDR-A)
- What ESRS requires: You must list key initiatives from the reporting year and how they support your company's sustainability goals (AR-68(a)).
- How climate competitions help: A climate competition is in itself a clear, targeted measure. In addition, you can retrieve figures on how many people participated, what actions were taken, and how much CO₂ was saved — and thus easily document that the measure contributed to goal achievement.
The role of management (GOV-1)
- What ESRS requires: The company's management must demonstrate that they have access to the necessary competence or training in sustainability (AR-5).
- How climate competitions help: When managers and the board participate together with the rest of the organisation, this can be documented as part of the company's skills enhancement — while also creating an important signal that sustainability is rooted from top to bottom.
In summary
Climate competitions are more than just a fun way to engage employees:
- They provide you with relevant data for ESRS reporting.
- They create a culture where sustainability and the environment become a shared responsibility.
- They help to structure the measures you can report on, and make it easier to document results.
Are you tired of feeling like you are alone with the sustainability work? Climate competitions can relieve you of the burden of reporting, while at the same time creating real commitment among colleagues. This makes it easier to meet the ESRS requirements — and to sleep a little better at night.