State of ESG & Sustainability Reporting in Industry 2026
Sustainability reporting has become standard practice for the world's largest companies, even as the regulation behind it is being rolled back. Almost every major multinational now publishes ESG data, a single voluntary standard dominates how they do it, and Europe's flagship mandatory regime was sharply narrowed in early 2026. This report compiles the public figures on where industrial sustainability reporting stands in 2026 and what the recent policy reversal means.
Reporting is now the norm for the world's biggest companies
Source: CDP — Charting the Change: Disclosure Data Dashboard 2024 (2024)
Among the world's 250 largest companies, about 96% now publish sustainability or ESG information — effectively universal practice. The picture is broader too: a record of more than 24,800 organisations disclosed environmental data through CDP in 2024, and companies representing roughly two-thirds of global market capitalisation now report through that channel. For industrial firms, this has shifted ESG reporting from a reputational extra to a routine condition of doing business with large customers, lenders and investors who increasingly demand the data.
One voluntary standard dominates how companies report
Source: KPMG — The move to mandatory reporting: Survey of Sustainability Reporting 2024 (2024)
Despite a crowded field of frameworks, the GRI Standards remain the most widely used basis for sustainability reporting worldwide. KPMG's 2024 survey found about 77% of the G250 — the largest global companies — reporting against GRI, with adoption among the broader N100 group rising to roughly 71%. Most large firms in practice report against two or three frameworks at once, pairing a mandatory regime with GRI for stakeholders and increasingly the ISSB standards for investors. For an industrial supplier, that means a customer's ESG questionnaire is far more likely to be built on GRI than on any single regulatory template.
Europe's mandatory regime was sharply scaled back in 2026
The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive was originally expected to bring around 50,000 companies into mandatory reporting. In early 2026 the Omnibus simplification package reversed much of that reach: the EU Council signed off the changes in February 2026, raising thresholds to companies with more than 1,000 employees and over EUR 450 million turnover and cutting the number of required data points by roughly 70%. Estimates suggest this removes about 80% of previously in-scope companies. The direction of travel is striking — voluntary reporting keeps growing while the flagship mandate retreats — and it leaves many industrial firms reporting by choice and customer pressure rather than by law.
FAQ
Do industrial companies still have to report ESG data after the EU rolled back the CSRD?
Many no longer have to by law — the 2026 Omnibus package raised thresholds so that roughly 80% of previously in-scope companies fall outside mandatory CSRD reporting. But large customers, lenders and investors still demand the data, and most major firms continue to report voluntarily, so in practice ESG disclosure remains a commercial requirement even where the legal one has eased.
Which sustainability reporting standard should an industrial company use?
The GRI Standards are the most widely used worldwide — around 77% of the largest global companies report against them — so they are the safest default for stakeholder reporting. Many firms add the ISSB standards for investor-focused climate disclosure and align with whatever mandatory regime applies in their markets, commonly reporting against two or three frameworks at once.
Sources
- CDP — Charting the Change: Disclosure Data Dashboard 2024
- KPMG — The move to mandatory reporting: Survey of Sustainability Reporting 2024
- Council of the European Union — Council signs off simplification of sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements
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