What is the CSRD?
The CSRD is the EU law requiring companies above a certain size to report on sustainability risks and on their impact on people and the environment.
Why it matters
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requires in-scope companies to disclose the risks and opportunities they face from social and environmental issues, and the impact of their activities on people and the environment. This helps investors, civil society, consumers and others judge a company's sustainability performance. Companies report against the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which are drafted by EFRAG.
The first companies in scope applied the rules for the 2024 financial year, in reports published in 2025. Since then the EU has been simplifying the rules. A 2025 "stop-the-clock" directive postponed reporting for later waves, and the Omnibus simplification package, politically agreed in December 2025, changes which companies are covered. Check the European Commission's latest guidance for current thresholds and dates.
An example
A large company with a big public cloud estate prepares its climate disclosures. Its cloud usage sits in its Scope 3 emissions, usually under purchased goods and services. Spend-based estimates are hard to check and risk accusations of greenwashing, so auditors may ask how the cloud figure was produced and whether the method holds up.
Where Greenpixie fits
Greenpixie's cloud methodology lists the CSRD among the reporting frameworks its outputs are intended to support, alongside the UK's SECR and US SEC climate disclosure. It produces electricity, location-based usage emissions, embodied emissions and water for each unit of cloud usage, with a published method behind every figure.
The outputs are estimates built from billing data and published sources. The methodology states they should not be treated as certified measurements or compliance instruments unless agreed in writing.