ESRS E1 climate change: the eleven disclosures and the data behind them

What is ESRS E1?

ESRS E1 is the climate change standard of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. A company that reports under the CSRD applies it when climate change is a material topic in its double materiality assessment, which it is for most companies, because almost every business uses energy and causes emissions.

This guide follows the revised ESRS, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563. They enter into force on 10 November 2026, apply to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2027, and renumber the E1 disclosures. A report, a questionnaire or an assurer may still use the 2023 numbers, so both are shown below.

The eleven E1 disclosures

Each disclosure requirement has its own code. The first six describe how the company manages climate change; E1-7 to E1-11 hold the figures.

Which version applies in which year?

For financial year 2026, a company may use the 2023 ESRS as last amended, the 2023 ESRS with a set of reliefs from the revised version, or the revised ESRS, and must say which. From financial year 2027 only the revised ESRS apply. Since Directive (EU) 2026/470, the CSRD applies to companies with more than 1,000 employees and a net turnover above €450 million, so check first whether your company reports at all.

Where the figures come from

Most of the work in E1 is the figures in E1-7 and E1-8, and they come from records you already have.

• Energy (E1-7): electricity, gas, heat and fuel from invoices, meter readings and fuel cards, in MWh, split into fossil, nuclear and renewable. Companies in high climate impact sectors split the fossil part further by fuel.
• Scope 1 (E1-8): fuel burned on site and in vehicles, and refrigerant top-ups, with the share covered by the EU emissions trading system if you have installations in it.
• Scope 2 (E1-8): purchased electricity, heat and cooling, both location-based and market-based, so your contracts and guarantees of origin matter.
• Scope 3 (E1-8): each significant category, as a total and per category, usually starting with purchased goods, transport and business travel.
• Biogenic CO₂ (E1-8): emissions from burning or degrading biomass, reported separately from Scope 1.
• Targets and actions (E1-6 and E1-5): absolute reduction targets per scope, and actions by decarbonisation lever with the reductions achieved and expected.

The reporting boundary

The revised ESRS use financial control as the default boundary, as defined in the GHG Protocol, and allow equity share or operational control instead. Scope 1 and 2 are split between the consolidated accounting group and any other emissions outside it. The GHG Protocol, Commission Recommendation (EU) 2021/2279 or ISO 14064-1 may be used for the calculation, but where they differ the ESRS take precedence.

Doing it in Greener Ahead

CSRD reporting in Greener Ahead starts from your double materiality assessment and, when climate change is material, asks for the E1 disclosures under the revised ESRS, with the evidence beside every answer for your assurer. With Carbon accounting, your approved footprint fills the E1 emissions disclosures, so you calculate once, and Climate strategy holds the targets that E1-6 reports. CSRD reporting costs €4,995 per year, Carbon accounting €1,495 and Climate strategy €995, with bundles that cost less, all with unlimited users. You can try them free for 14 days without a card. Check the pricing page for current details.

The E1 disclosures at a glance

Revised ESRS, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563.

From the 2023 numbers to the revised ones

The revised ESRS renumber E1, because two new disclosures on risks and resilience come first.