Local authorities influence policy choices that have a direct impact on the climate, the environment and society. Although they are not (yet) legally obliged to report on sustainability, more and more citizens, businesses and other stakeholders want to know how our local authorities are fulfilling their sustainability responsibilities. They also play an indirect role in the value chain of CSRD-compliant companies. Transparency and accountability are therefore becoming increasingly important. The Guide, developed by the Coalition of the Willing, is in line with the approach of the European Corporate Sustainable Reporting Directive (CSRD), applied to the context of local authorities.
Download the Guide to Sustainability Reporting and Accountability for Local Authorities here
Download the Supplement to the Guide to Sustainability Reporting and Accountability for Local Authorities here
Supplement ‘Getting started’
The supplement ‘Getting started’ builds on the basis of the Guide, but focuses explicitly on practical application. For example, an 80% version of the Double Materiality Analysis has been made available, which local authorities can use to determine relevant sustainability themes from both an impact and a financial perspective. Why 80%? To capture the shared foundation of these organisations. Then they can then fill in the remaining 20% itself to create an organisation-specific (double) materiality analysis. In addition, a digital Sustainability Reporting Dashboard is being developed to make it easier and more transparent for municipalities and provinces to report via waarstaatjegemeente.nl. This dashboard will follow in March 2026.
This addition is intended to make sustainability reporting more concrete, practical and applicable. It is an invitation to local authorities to get started with sustainability and reporting. Both the original Sustainability Reporting Guide and this new addition are published with this announcement, so that local authorities have direct access to both documents.
