Simplified ESRS in force; sustainability rating for data centers; Germany to stop using fossil fuels by 2045 - Tomorrow Works
The revised ESRS are now law. Most of the other movement this fortnight was the EU turning proposals into binding text, while the US moved the other way. Top story The simplified ESRS are now law The revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards have been published in the EU Official Journal as Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563. The key dates are shown above. They cut the number of mandatory data points sharply. The topics stay the same, but there are more exemptions and more room to leave thi...
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Simplified ESRS in force; sustainability rating for data centers; Germany to stop using fossil fuels by 2045
October 8, 2026
The revised ESRS are now law. Most of the other movement this fortnight was the EU turning proposals into binding text, while the US moved the other way.
Top story
The simplified ESRS are now law
The revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards have been published in the EU Official Journal as Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563. The key dates are shown above.
They cut the number of mandatory data points sharply. The topics stay the same, but there are more exemptions and more room to leave things out.
The new standards apply to financial years starting from the date shown above, so the first reports under them follow in the year shown. Companies already reporting can choose: for a financial year starting in the earlier year shown, you may use either the old standards or move early to the new ones.
What to do: Decide now whether to early-adopt for that earlier financial year. If you do, rework your data collection before the year closes. If you do not, plan the switch into the following year’s cycle.
Source: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563, EUR-Lex
EU proposes A-to-G sustainability ratings for data centres
The European Commission has proposed a common EU rating scheme for data centres above the capacity threshold shown above. Ratings run on the scale shown and cover energy use, water use, clean energy sourcing and what the site gives back to the grid, such as reused waste heat.
Labels will be generated automatically from data centres’ own reported figures. The proposal now faces a scrutiny period in the Parliament and Council, and the first labels are expected on the timeline shown above.
The Commission also opened a call for evidence on minimum performance standards for data centres, which would set a floor rather than just publish a score.
What to do: If you operate or lease data centre capacity in the EU, start measuring power and water use efficiency now. Your rating will be built from figures you report.
Source: European Commission
Regulation & policy spotlight
Parliament votes to widen the carbon border tax to 457 more products
The European Parliament has adopted its negotiating position on extending the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to downstream goods, by a wide margin (the vote is shown above).
Parliament wants far more product lines added than either the Commission proposed or the Council backed, as the comparison above shows. The list covers finished and semi-finished goods such as fasteners, wire, springs and household articles. MEPs also added stronger anti-circumvention rules.
This is not law yet. Parliament must now negotiate a final text with the Council, and the current CBAM product list stays in force until an amending regulation is passed.
What to do: Check whether your imported components appear on Parliament’s wider list, and ask suppliers now for embedded emissions data. Waiting for the trilogue outcome leaves too little time.
Source: Carbon Pulse
The deforestation product list is settled, and the December deadline holds
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2102 has fixed the final product scope of the EU Deforestation Regulation. It removes some items, including cattle hides and leather, re-treaded tyres and soybeans for sowing. It adds others, including soluble coffee, certain palm oil derivatives and frozen cattle tongues, which only come into scope from the latest date shown above.
The main application date has not moved again. Large and medium companies must comply from the date shown above for them. Micro and small operators outside the timber sector follow later, also shown above.
What to do: Re-check your product codes against the final Annex I. If you are a large or medium operator, your due diligence statements and geolocation data need to be ready before your deadline.
Source: Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/2102, EUR-Lex
Country & market spotlight
Germany sets 2045 as the date it stops using fossil fuels
On 23 September the German government published a roadmap for moving away from coal, oil and gas by 2045. Germany is the third country to publish one, after France and the Netherlands.
Renewables currently supply about 55% of gross electricity consumption. The government wants at least 80% by 2030. Coal leaves the power system no later than 2038, and new state-funded gas plants must be hydrogen-ready and run on climate-neutral fuels by 2045.
The plan also covers electrifying transport, heating and industry. The economy ministry framed it as an economic strategy as much as a climate one, pointing to the cost of imported energy.
Source: Climate Home News
Standards, reporting & frameworks
A voluntary standard for companies outside the CSRD is now law too
Published alongside the revised ESRS, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560 sets out the Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard. It is for companies that fall outside the CSRD but are still asked for sustainability data by banks, investors and large customers.
This matters because the Omnibus narrowed CSRD scope sharply, to companies with more than 1,000 employees and over €450 million turnover. Most of the companies that dropped out of scope are still in someone else’s value chain.
What to do: If you are out of CSRD scope but fielding data requests, use the voluntary standard as your answer. It gives you one defensible format instead of a different spreadsheet for every customer.
Source: IAS Plus
Hong Kong consults on a wider green taxonomy, closing 7 October
On 7 September the Hong Kong Monetary Authority opened a consultation on the Phase 2B prototype of