ESRS Sustainability Aspects: All Aspects for the DWA at a Glance

As part of the materiality analysis, companies should identify the ESRS sustainability aspects that are material to them. These sustainability aspects represent the substantive topics for which impacts, risks, and opportunities are identified. In this article, you’ll learn which sustainability aspects are included in the ESRS, how they are structured, and how they should be addressed.

Complete List of ESRS Sustainability Factors

The table below lists all ESRS Sustainability Matters, sorted by topic, thereby providing a structured overview of the sustainability issues that must be considered as part of the double materiality analysis.

ESRS	Topic	Subtopic	Sub-subtopic
ESRS E1	Climate Change	Adaptation to Climate Change Climate Protection Energy
ESRS E2	Environmental pollution	Air pollution Water pollution Soil pollution Pollution of living organisms and food resources Substances of concern Substances of very high concern Microplastics
ESRS E3	Water and Marine Resources	Water Marine Resources	Water Consumption Water Withdrawal Water Discharge Discharge of Water into the Oceans Extraction and Use of Marine Resources
ESRS E4	Biodiversity and Ecosystems	Direct Causes of Biodiversity Loss	Climate Change Land-Use Changes, Freshwater, and Marine-Use Changes Direct Use Invasive Alien Species Environmental Pollution Other
		Impacts on the status of species	Examples: Population size of species Global extinction risk of species
		Impacts on the extent and the condition of ecosystems	Examples: Land degradation Desertification Soil sealing
		Impacts and Interdependencies of Ecosystem Services
ESRS E5	Circular Economy	Resource inflows, including resource use Resource outflows related to products and services Waste
ESRS S1	The company’s workforce	Working Conditions	Secure Employment Working Hours Fair Compensation Social Dialogue Freedom of Association, Existence of Works Councils, and Employees’ Rights to Information, Consultation, and Co-determination Collective Bargaining, Including the Percentage of Workers Covered by Collective Bargaining Agreements Work-Life Balance Occupational Health and Safety
		Equal Treatment and Equal Opportunity for All	Gender Equality and Equal Pay for Equal Work Training and Skills Development Employment and Inclusion of People with Disabilities Measures Against Violence and Harassment in the Workplace Diversity
		Other Employment-Related Rights	Child Labor Forced Labor Adequate Housing Data Protection
ESRS S2	Workers in the Value Chain	– Working Conditions	Secure Employment Working Hours Fair Compensation Social Dialogue Freedom of Association, including the existence of works councils Collective Bargaining Work-Life Balance Occupational Health and Safety
		Equal Treatment and Equal Opportunity for All	Gender Equality and Equal Pay for Equal Work Training and Skills Development Employment and Inclusion of People with Disabilities Measures Against Violence and Harassment in the Workplace Diversity
		Other Employment-Related Rights	Child Labor Forced Labor Adequate Housing Water and Sanitation Data Protection
ESRS S3	Affected Communities	Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights of Communities	Adequate Housing Adequate Nutrition Water and Sanitation Facilities Land-Related Impacts Safety-Related Impacts
		Civil and Political Rights of Communities	Freedom of Expression Freedom of Assembly Impact on Human Rights Defenders
		Rights of Indigenous Peoples	Free, Prior, and Informed Consent Self-Determination Cultural Rights
ESRS S4	Consumers and end users	Information-related implications for consumers and/ , or end users	Privacy Freedom of Speech Access to (high-quality) information
		Personal safety of consumers and/or	Health and Safety Personal Safety Child Protection
		Social inclusion of consumers and/or end users	Non-Discrimination Access to Products and Services Responsible Marketing Practices
ESRS G1	Corporate Governance	Corporate Culture Protection of Whistleblowers (Whistleblowers) Animal Welfare Political Engagement and Lobbying Management of Relationships with Suppliers, Including Payment Practices
		Corruption and Bribery	Prevention and Detection, Including Training Incidents

Addressing Key ESRS Sustainability Aspects

The following excerpt from ESRS 1 Application Requirement (AR) 16 explains how to address the sustainability aspects identified as material as part of the dual materiality analysis:
“If a specific sustainability aspect from this list is assessed as material
as part of the company’s materiality analysis, the company must report on it in accordance with the relevant disclosure requirements of the respective topic-specific ESRS. The use of this list does not replace the process for determining material aspects. The list is a tool to support the company’s materiality analysis. When identifying material aspects, the company must also take its own specific circumstances into account. If necessary, the company shall also provide company-specific disclosures on material impacts, risks, and opportunities that are not covered by the ESRS.” (Excerpt from AR16, p. 24, Corrigendum to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2772 of July 31, 2023)

In short: A company must report on sustainability issues that were previously identified as “material” (relevant/important) in the materiality analysis. Our FramesCube software offers, for example, integrated mapping of sustainability aspects to the ESRS data points.

Dual Materiality as a New Standard in the ESRS

“Double materiality” is a central concept in ESRS reporting and differs from “single materiality” in its broader focus. While single materiality focuses on how sustainability issues affect the company financially (financial materiality), double materiality also considers how the company itself has a material impact on environmental, social, and governance aspects (impact materiality). This holistic perspective ensures that both financial risks and social and environmental impacts are given equal consideration. You can find more information on dual materiality here. The dual materiality analysis thus serves to systematically identify the material ESRS sustainability aspects and, consequently, the relevant data points.