​Today EFRAG publishes its XBRL Taxonomy for ESRS Set 1, which enables the digital tagging of ESRS statements. In addition, EFRAG publishes the XBRL Taxonomy for Article 8 disclosures that the EC requested EFRAG prepare. The digital taxonomies enable the marking up (‘tagging’) of sustainability reporting in machine-readable XBRL format.

EFRAG was tasked by the European Commission (EC) to develop the digital taxonomy for the ESRS adopted by the EC on 31 July 2023. The XBRL taxonomy released by EFRAG represents the correct digital transposition of the human-readable ESRS Set 1, in EFRAG’s opinion as the technical advisor to the European Commission that developed those standards.

This taxonomy will be the basis for the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA) to develop Regulatory Technical Standards for tagging the ESRS sustainability statement.

The XBRL taxonomies and accompanying materials can be found below:

• Press Release ‘EFRAG publishes the ESRS Set 1 XBRL Taxonomy’
• EFRAG’s webpage on the ESRS Set 1 XBRL Taxonomy
  
• EFRAG’s webpage on the Article 8 XBRL Taxonomy
  

In addition to the XBRL taxonomy packages, a document entitled ‘Explanatory Note and Basis for Conclusions’ accompanies each taxonomy. It illustrates the basis for conclusions and the applied methodology and includes technical options considered for the preparation of the taxonomies. It also includes illustrations of the resulting reporting in machine-readable format to support the implementation of ESRS Set 1 Taxonomy.

The documents (available for download through the links above) are provided as separate, accompanying documentation for each taxonomy. These documents prepared by the EFRAG Secretariat are not subject to EFRAG’s due process and are non-authoritative.

Patrick de Cambourg, the EFRAG SRB Chair, stated: ‘The final XBRL taxonomy marks a major milestone to enable machine-readable sustainability statements once adopted by ESMA and the EC. The advanced approaches being implemented, especially for the tagging of narrative disclosures, will increase the usability of ESRS statements as users (analysts, investors, etc.) confirmed to EFRAG. We encourage companies to use the ESRS taxonomy for their first ESRS statements on a voluntary basis; it is a useful tool to structure disclosures and will increase their decision-usefulness. Let us not miss the opportunity to start with digital ESG disclosures from day one – because this is what users want.’

Chiara Del Prete, the EFRAG SR TEG Chair, commented: ‘We would like to thank all the stakeholders who provided useful feedback and supported EFRAG in its mission to enable digital ESRS disclosures. The ESRS Set 1 Taxonomy is the foundation for true digital sustainability reporting, once adopted by ESMA and the EC. The taxonomy released today marks an innovation in digital reporting and supports the achievement of digital interoperability.’