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Awareness training · Sustainability reporting
CSRD training: the CSRD and ESRS after the 2026 Omnibus changes
If you have been told your company must prepare a CSRD sustainability statement, or a large EU customer has sent you a sustainability data request and you are not sure what you have to answer, this CSRD training explains the rules as they stand now. The Omnibus I Directive of February 2026 narrowed the scope sharply, and the simplified ESRS were adopted in July 2026, so much of what was written before is out of date.
In about two hours, the course covers who must report after the changes, what double materiality means in practice, how the ESRS are structured, how the sustainability statement is assured, and what suppliers may be asked for. Corso Consumer Group, a home-care and personal-care products group in Milan with suppliers in Mumbai, Manila, Paris and Frankfurt, runs through the course.
CSRD training explains the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS): which companies must report after the 2026 Omnibus changes, how the double materiality assessment works, what the ESRS cover, how the sustainability statement is prepared and given limited assurance, and what value-chain data suppliers may be asked for.
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What you get
- 10 video modules
About 111 minutes, with captions. Watch at your own pace on any device.
- Practice after every module
Short questions check your understanding before you move on.
- Final exam
Multiple choice, with immediate retakes if you need them.
- Built by experts
Industry experts, domain specialist trainers and globally renowned auditors with 30+ years in ISO and GRC.
A certificate you can prove, and share
Verifiable certificate with a QR code anyone can scan, plus a digital badge to add to your LinkedIn profile.
See how verification works →Standard and editionCSRD (EU) 2022/2464 and the ESRS, as amended by Directive (EU) 2026/470
Last updated31 October 2026
Why CSRD training matters now
Few rules have changed as often in so short a time, and decisions made on old information can waste a year of work. The milestones show why teams need a current picture.
The CSRD was adopted in December 2022, replacing the 2014 non-financial reporting rules after a Commission review found that material information was left out and reports were hard to compare. The first set of ESRS followed in July 2023. In April 2025, the stop-the-clock Directive (EU) 2025/794 postponed the later reporting waves by two years. In February 2026, the Omnibus I Directive (EU) 2026/470 narrowed the scope to the largest companies and reduced requirements, after a competitiveness report called the framework a major source of regulatory burden. In July 2026, the Commission adopted the simplified ESRS, published in September 2026.
Many companies that prepared for CSRD are now out of scope, while others remain in it with new standards from 2027. Suppliers, meanwhile, gained protection against disproportionate data requests. Knowing where your company stands, and what you can be asked for, is the starting point.
Who this CSRD training course is for
It is for everyone who prepares, supplies or oversees sustainability information, with no prior reporting knowledge needed.
- Finance teams who will see the sustainability statement sit in the management report
- Sustainability and ESG teams running the double materiality assessment
- Managers and data owners who supply energy, emissions, workforce or supplier data
- Board members responsible for the statement
- Staff of suppliers to large EU companies who receive value-chain data requests
- Companies outside the EU with EU sales, subsidiaries or branches checking whether the rules reach them
What you will learn
Each topic is shown through Corso's own first report, from its scope check to its supplier requests.
- Explain the purpose of the CSRD and how the 2026 Omnibus changes narrowed its scope
- Recognise which companies must report and what their suppliers may be asked for
- Describe double materiality: impact materiality and financial materiality
- Understand the structure of the ESRS and their main topics
- Know how the sustainability statement is prepared, assured and published
- Recognise your own part in providing reliable sustainability data
Course outline: 10 modules
Each topic follows the same pattern: a real-life moment, the rule in plain words with its article on screen, what it means in practice, and the common mistake.
- Module 1, Why the CSRD: where the CSRD came from, how it changed in 2026, the company we follow and how we learn.
- Module 2, Who must report after the Omnibus: the two size tests, groups, non-EU companies, timing, and what it means for suppliers.
- Module 3, Double materiality: impact materiality: the two angles of double materiality, impact materiality, severity and common mistakes.
- Module 4, Financial materiality and the value chain: risks and opportunities, top-down and bottom-up approaches, and the value chain.
- Module 5, The ESRS: structure and topics: the standards, ESRS 1 and ESRS 2, the environmental, social and governance topics, and what a company reports.
- Module 6, The revised, simplified ESRS: why the ESRS were revised, what changed, the choice for 2026 and the voluntary standard.
- Module 7, Reporting, assurance and enforcement: where the statement sits, who is responsible, limited assurance, enforcement and data controls.
- Module 8, Your role: reliable data and supplier requests: the data owner's routine, protected suppliers, the value-chain cap and links to ISO standards.
- Module 9, Where the rules are going: what is fixed, what is scheduled next, what it means for each role, and how to follow changes.
- Module 10, Putting it together at Corso: Corso's first report from start to finish, a road map, a supplier checklist and the exam.
The CSRD and ESRS explained
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, Directive (EU) 2022/2464, requires in-scope companies to publish sustainability information in a clearly identifiable section of their management report, prepared under common standards, the ESRS, and subject to assurance. Its central idea is double materiality: a company reports both its impacts on people and the environment (impact materiality) and how sustainability matters affect the company (financial materiality), across its own operations and value chain.
After the Omnibus I Directive, which entered into force on 18 March 2026 and must be transposed by 19 March 2027, the CSRD covers EU companies and parent companies of groups that exceed both EUR 450 million net turnover and an average of 1,000 employees. Non-EU groups are covered if their EU net turnover exceeds EUR 450 million in each of the last two consecutive years and they have an EU subsidiary or branch above EUR 200 million. Listed SMEs are out of scope. The amended scope applies to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2027, as each Member State transposes it.
The simplified ESRS, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1563, enter into force on 10 November 2026 and apply to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027, with a choice to use them for 2026. A separate standard for voluntary use sets a cap on value-chain requests to smaller suppliers. Assurance stays at limited assurance; the step to reasonable assurance was removed.
How the course works
The course is 10 short on-demand video modules, about 2 hours of video in total. You learn online, on any device, at your own pace. Each module ends with three practice questions to check your understanding.
The final exam is a scenario-based multiple-choice exam drawn from the course's question bank. Complete the course and its assessed final exam (pass mark 70%, one retake included) for the Sterling Academy Certificate of Completion. Because a directive applies through national law, the course always tells you where to check your own Member State's rules.
What you can do after the course
After the course, you can take part in your company's reporting with confidence.
- Check whether your company or group is in scope under the 2026 thresholds, and from which financial year
- Explain double materiality to colleagues and contribute to the impacts, risks and opportunities assessment
- Find which ESRS topics your data feeds and what the simplified standards changed
- Set up a simple routine for the data you own, with sources, owners and checks an assurance provider will look for
- Answer a customer's value-chain request, knowing what a protected supplier can decline
- Link CSRD climate data to related work such as ISO 14064 greenhouse gas inventories
For teams and organisations
CSRD reporting depends on data from finance, HR, operations and procurement, so a shared understanding saves months. With a company plan, a client administrator adds staff, assigns the course and follows progress in reports, with one invoice. Training a team? Get a quote for your organisation.
Why Sterling Academy
Sterling Academy courses are built by industry experts, domain specialist trainers and globally renowned auditors with 30+ years in ISO and GRC. The Academy is the training arm of Sterling International Consulting, with 8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries over 20+ years. Every course teaches the current rules: here, the CSRD as amended by the Omnibus I Directive of 2026 and the simplified ESRS adopted in July 2026.
Preview this course
Experience the learning
before you enrol.
Watch a sample from CSRD and ESRS Awareness before you enrol.
CSRD and ESRS AwarenessSample
Inside the course
A clear path through the essentials.
10 modules, 10 practice checkpoints and a final exam. Video runtimes are approximate; allow additional time for the practice questions and the final exam. Modules marked optional can be skipped; the others are studied in any order.
Part 1What the CSRD is and who must reportApprox. 21 min
- Why the CSRD9 min
What the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is, why it replaced non-financial reporting, and how the 2026 Omnibus changed it.
What this module covers
Opens with a customer asking for your site's energy use and accident rate, and a self-rating on sustainability reporting. Traces the history: the 2014 non-financial reporting directive, the 2021 review that found incomplete and hard-to-compare information, and the CSRD, Directive (EU) 2022/2464, adopted in December 2022. Covers five milestones, from the first ESRS in July 2023 to the Omnibus Directive, Directive (EU) 2026/470, in February 2026 and simplified ESRS adopted on 3 July 2026, and why the EU narrowed the rules. Introduces Corso Consumer Group, a Milan consumer-goods group with suppliers in Mumbai, Manila and Paris, then the ten modules, the final exam and the course scope under national law. It ends with a recap and three practice questions.
What you will be able to do
- Explain why the CSRD replaced non-financial reporting
- Describe how the Omnibus changed the CSRD in 2026
- Describe how the course and final exam work
Why it matters
Knowing which version of the rules applies stops you working from guidance written before 2026 that no longer holds.
Practice: Practice: Why the CSRD · 3 questions
- Who must report after the Omnibus12 min
Who must report under the CSRD after the 2026 Omnibus: the EUR 450 million and 1,000 employee size tests, groups, non-EU companies and timing.
What this module covers
Starts with two companies that began CSRD projects in 2024: a Dublin software company with about 600 employees that is now out of scope, and Corso in Milan, still above both thresholds. Covers the rule the Omnibus wrote into the Accounting Directive: a company reports only if it exceeds both EUR 450 million of net turnover and 1,000 employees on average. Explains groups, where the parent reports for the whole group, illustrated by a Vienna logistics group, banks and insurers, non-EU groups with their own tests from 2028, and timing. Covers what this means for suppliers, who have no reporting duty but receive requests, and the value chain cap for those with up to 1,000 employees. It ends with a recap and three practice questions.
What you will be able to do
- Apply both CSRD size tests at company and group level
- Explain how groups and non-EU companies are treated
- Explain what the value chain cap means for suppliers
Why it matters
Applying both tests correctly, and writing the decision down, avoids preparing a report you do not need, or missing one you do.
Practice: Practice: Who must report after the Omnibus · 3 questions
Part 2Double materiality: impact and financialApprox. 23 min
- Double materiality: impact materiality11 min
Double materiality under the CSRD and ESRS, and impact materiality: actual and potential impacts, severity and the value chain.
What this module covers
Opens with Corso's first materiality workshop, where plant managers discuss energy prices and plastic packaging taxes but nobody mentions wastewater from the Spanish factory or working hours at the Manila customer-service centre. Explains double materiality: a topic material from either the impact angle or the financial angle is reported. Covers impact materiality: actual and potential impacts on people and the environment across the value chain, reaching Corso's packaging supplier in Mumbai and service centre in Manila. Explains severity as scale, scope and irremediable character, likelihood for potential impacts, why positive impacts are not netted against negative ones, and why plans not yet in place do not count. Shows how staff in each function contribute what they know. It ends with a recap and three practice questions.
What you will be able to do
- Explain the two angles of double materiality
- Assess an impact's severity by scale, scope and irremediable character
- Avoid netting positive impacts against negative ones
Why it matters
Bringing what you know about impacts, including bad news, makes the materiality assessment complete and defensible.
Practice: Practice: Double materiality: impact materiality · 3 questions
- Financial materiality and the value chain12 min
Financial materiality under the CSRD and ESRS: sustainability risks and opportunities, dependencies, time horizons and the value chain.
What this module covers
Starts at Corso's factory in Spain in a dry summer, when the river runs low and the local authority limits water drawn, turning the Module 3 impact into a financial risk. Covers financial materiality: a topic that could reasonably be expected to move the company's results, financial position or cost of capital over any time horizon. Explains where risks and opportunities come from, including dependencies on water, energy and inputs, and running the assessment top-down, bottom-up or both, using reasonable information without undue cost or effort. Shows a Madrid logistics firm listing its risks, keeping the assessment consistent with the risk register, common mistakes such as looking too narrowly, and including the value chain as far as it is material. It ends with a recap and three practice questions.
What you will be able to do
- Decide whether a sustainability topic is financially material
- Identify risks, opportunities and dependencies across time horizons
- Include the value chain as far as it is material
Why it matters
Linking sustainability risks to the risk register gives finance and sustainability teams one consistent story.
Practice: Practice: Financial materiality and the value chain · 3 questions
Part 3The ESRS standards and the 2026 simplificationApprox. 24 min
- The ESRS: structure and topics12 min
The European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS): ESRS 1 and ESRS 2, the ten topical standards, and the sustainability statement structure.
What this module covers
Opens with Corso's finance director reading the ESRS as one huge checklist for every site, and the sustainability manager reading the same set as a map. Covers how the set is built: twelve standards, two cross-cutting, ESRS 1 and ESRS 2, and ten topical, all replaced in revised, simplified form by a delegated regulation adopted in July 2026. Explains the five environmental topics, four social topics and business conduct, with a Madrid logistics firm showing how own workforce differs from workers in the value chain. Covers how ESRS 2 always applies while topical requirements apply only where material, and how the statement has four parts in the management report, with its place and order set by the standards. It ends with a recap and three practice questions.
What you will be able to do
- Describe the structure of the twelve ESRS
- Name the environmental, social and governance topics they cover
- Explain why only material topical requirements are reported
Why it matters
Reading the ESRS as a map, not a checklist, keeps your report focused on what really matters.
Practice: Practice: The ESRS: structure and topics · 3 questions
- The revised, simplified ESRS12 min
The revised, simplified ESRS adopted on 3 July 2026: what changed, the reporting options for 2026, and the standard for voluntary use.
What this module covers
Starts with a listed bank in Frankfurt, reporting since financial year 2024, deciding whether to keep the first ESRS for its 2026 report or move early to the revised set. Covers why the ESRS were revised under the Omnibus aims and what changed: fewer datapoints and clearer materiality rules. Explains that the revised ESRS apply to financial years from 1 January 2027, and that for 2026 companies already reporting may choose among three options and must say which they used. Covers the new standard for voluntary use, with a basic module and a second, fuller module, which serves smaller companies and sets the value chain cap, and the mistake of using a checklist built for the first ESRS for a 2027 report. It ends with a recap and three practice questions.
What you will be able to do
- Explain what changed in the revised ESRS
- Choose and disclose the ESRS version used for 2026
- Describe the standard for voluntary use and its two modules
Why it matters
Knowing your version, and saying which one you used, keeps templates and questionnaires from being built on the wrong rules.
Practice: Practice: The revised, simplified ESRS · 3 questions
Part 4Reporting, assurance, your role and the road aheadApprox. 44 min
- Reporting, assurance and enforcement11 min
CSRD reporting, limited assurance and enforcement: the sustainability statement in the management report, board responsibility and internal controls.
What this module covers
Opens with a dry run at Corso for the 2027 report, where the assurance team asks how the Spanish factory's energy figure was produced, and nobody knows. Covers where the sustainability statement sits: a dedicated section of the management report, in the EU's single electronic reporting format, with the board collectively responsible. Explains limited assurance covering compliance with the ESRS and the process used to identify information, with its conclusion given in negative form. Covers enforcement and penalties set by each Member State. Shows internal controls that make data complete, consistent and accurate, a Madrid logistics firm that counted one depot's fuel twice, documenting the process, keeping the trail and checking data during the year. It ends with a recap and three practice questions.
What you will be able to do
- Explain where the sustainability statement sits and who is responsible
- Describe what limited assurance covers
- Set up internal controls that keep a trail for each figure
Why it matters
A documented process and a trail for each figure let you answer an assurance provider's questions with confidence.
Practice: Practice: Reporting, assurance and enforcement · 3 questions
- Your role: reliable data and supplier requests11 min
Your role in CSRD reporting: reliable sustainability data, answering supplier questionnaires, the value chain cap, and ISO 14064 and ISO 14001.
What this module covers
Starts at Corso's packaging supplier in Mumbai, with about 600 employees, facing a two-hundred-question questionnaire due in three weeks, and the choice between guessing everything and answering within the cap. Covers reliable data that is complete, neutral, accurate and verifiable, and five steps to get there: define, source, check, estimate with a basis, and keep the trail, with total energy in megawatt hours as an example. Explains that suppliers with up to 1,000 employees are protected by the value chain cap wherever they are, and may decline what goes beyond it. Shows how ISO 14064 and ISO 14001 help produce good data while ESRS requirements take precedence, and how to list the cap datapoints you can answer today. It ends with a recap and three practice questions.
What you will be able to do
- Apply five steps to make sustainability data reliable
- Answer a customer questionnaire within the value chain cap
- Use ISO 14064 and ISO 14001 records to support reported data
Why it matters
Reliable answers within the cap protect your company's time and give customers figures they can use.
Practice: Practice: Your role: reliable data and supplier requests · 3 questions
- Where the rules are going11 min
Upcoming CSRD and ESRS dates and reviews: transposition, the new scope from 2027, non-EU groups from 2028 and how to follow changes.
What this module covers
Opens with two planning meetings in the same week: a Paris fashion group that waits and is unready a year later, and Corso, whose sustainability manager lists the dates written in the texts. Covers four fixed dates: the simplified ESRS in force in November 2026, the new scope from 2027, transposition by March 2027, and non-EU groups from 2028. Explains the reviews the texts schedule: assurance standards by July 2027, threshold and standard reviews, and a scope report by April 2031, plus the dedicated portal with guidance and templates. Sets out what this means for each role, and the habit of checking the date and version of what you read, acting on texts in force and tracking the rest. It ends with a recap and three practice questions.
What you will be able to do
- List the fixed CSRD dates from 2026 to 2028
- Identify the reviews the texts schedule next
- Plan on texts in force while tracking proposed changes
Why it matters
Planning on what is certain, rather than rumours, keeps your reporting project on time when rules keep moving.
Practice: Practice: Where the rules are going · 3 questions
- Putting it together at Corso11 min
Corso's first CSRD sustainability report from start to finish: a seven-step road map, two checklists, the key takeaways and the final exam.
What this module covers
Opens with the challenge of explaining Corso's whole first report in ten minutes. Gives a road map in seven steps and two parts: scope, applying both size tests at company and group level under national law; version, confirming which ESRS apply; double materiality, assessing impacts and financial effects; mapping material topics onto the ESRS; then collecting data with an owner for each figure, and limited assurance and publication. Follows Corso through each step, and answers a company that thinks the road map is only for newcomers. Gives a checklist for reporting companies and one for suppliers covering size, the cap datapoints, records, estimates and one owner for requests. Recaps the key takeaways and ends with the final exam: thirty scenario questions and a 60% mark.
What you will be able to do
- Follow the seven steps from scope check to publication
- Apply the supplier checklist to your own company
- Explain a sustainability report from first question to publication
Why it matters
Seeing one report end to end helps you know where your own data and decisions fit in the process.
Practice: Practice: Putting it together at Corso · 3 questions
Frequently asked questions
Your questions,
answered.
About CSRD and ESRS Awareness, its certificate and enrolment.
Ask SterlingIs Sterling Academy a good choice for CSRD and ESRS training?
Yes. Sterling Academy's CSRD and ESRS training is built by the Sterling consulting group, which has taken organisations to certification across 8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries over 20+ years. It is always on the current edition, with practice questions that show the right answer. Each course ends with a final exam and a verifiable certificate that anyone can check online, plus a LinkedIn badge, and client administrators can show an auditor exactly who has been trained. You will understand what CSRD and ESRS asks of you, contribute to your organisation's implementation and audit readiness, and play your part with confidence when the auditor visits. Sterling Academy courses carry the same content as Sterling's classroom training, whose certificates are trusted and accepted by all major certification bodies, as evidence of training at client audits for over 20 years.
What is CSRD training?
CSRD training explains the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the ESRS. This course covers who must report after the 2026 Omnibus changes, double materiality, the structure and topics of the ESRS, the simplified ESRS, limited assurance, and what suppliers may be asked for, using a consumer-goods group in Milan as the example.
Who must report under the CSRD after the Omnibus?
EU companies and parent companies of groups that exceed both EUR 450 million net turnover and an average of 1,000 employees must report. Non-EU groups are covered if EU turnover exceeds EUR 450 million for two consecutive years and they have an EU subsidiary or branch above EUR 200 million. Listed SMEs are out of scope.
When does the amended CSRD scope apply?
The amended scope applies to financial years starting on or after 1 January 2027. Member States must transpose the Omnibus I Directive by 19 March 2027 and may exempt first-wave companies below the new thresholds for financial years 2025 and 2026. Always check your national law for the exact position.
What is double materiality?
Double materiality means a company reports on two angles: its impacts on people and the environment, called impact materiality, and the risks and opportunities sustainability matters create for the company, called financial materiality. A matter is reported if it is material from either angle. Modules 3 and 4 explain both.
What changed in the simplified ESRS?
The simplified ESRS, adopted on 3 July 2026, reduce what companies must report and apply from financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027, with an option to use them for 2026. Sector-specific standards were removed. Module 6 explains the changes and the separate standard for voluntary use.
Do suppliers have to answer CSRD data requests?
Smaller suppliers now have protection. A supplier with no more than 1,000 employees on average is a protected undertaking: it need not provide information beyond the value-chain cap linked to the standard for voluntary use, and a contract clause demanding more for reporting is not binding. Module 8 shows how to recognise which applies and how to respond.
How long does the CSRD training course take?
The course is about 2 hours of video in 10 short modules. You learn online, on any device, at your own pace. Each module ends with three practice questions, and the final exam follows Module 10, where the whole worked case comes together.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes, you receive the Sterling Academy Certificate of Completion when you complete the course and take the scenario-based multiple-choice final exam, which is assessed with a pass mark of 70%. One retake is included if your first attempt does not meet the mark. The certificate records your training in the CSRD and ESRS as amended in 2026.
How much does CSRD training cost?
The course costs US$19 per learner. That covers all 10 video modules, the practice questions, the final exam with one retake and the Certificate of Completion. For finance, sustainability and data-owner teams, contact us for a quote for your organisation.
Can my team take the training course together?
Yes, through a company plan. A client administrator adds your staff, assigns the course and follows progress in reports, with one invoice. It suits companies that need finance, HR, operations and procurement to share the same understanding before the first report. Contact us for a quote for your organisation.
Your certificate
Prove what you learned.
Share it with confidence.
You will understand what CSRD and ESRS asks of you, contribute to your organisation's implementation and audit readiness, and play your part with confidence when the auditor visits. Your certificate can be verified online in seconds, so certification body auditors, employers and clients can confirm your training instantly.
Complete the course and its final exam and you receive a Sterling Academy Certificate of Completion, verifiable online by QR code, with a LinkedIn badge to share.
- Pass mark
- 70%
- Prerequisites
- None
Sterling Academy courses carry the same content as Sterling's classroom training, whose certificates are trusted and accepted by all major certification bodies, as evidence of training at client audits for over 20 years.
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