ESG Barometer 2025

ESG Barometer 2025

Sustainability as a market access ticket

This year’s ESG Barometer helps companies move reporting beyond compliance and into a strategic tool for building trust, strengthening competitiveness, and creating measurable value.

Initially focused on how Denmark’s C25 companies prepared for CSRD, the fifth ESG Barometer now reflects the market’s shift from compliance to competitiveness and the growing link between sustainability and business performance.

We hope the insights in this year’s ESG Barometer inspire and guide your sustainability journey through Europe’s stop-the-clock moment – a time when regulatory momentum may slow, yet the strategic necessity of sustainability remains unwavering.

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Key findings – Part 1

Sustainability as a brand qualifier

To complement the review of CSRD-aligned reports, Part 1 shares insights from seven companies that have already reported under CSRD. Their experiences reveal how businesses are navigating 2025 – what they’ve learned, how reporting has shaped their organisations, and where they see new opportunities.

The growing maturity of sustainability →

Sustainability’s growing maturity is evident in the shift from purpose-driven ideals to performance-driven metrics. The rollout of the CSRD has elevated ESG from a compliance exercise to a core business discipline.

Unlocking the value of CSRD →

The true value of CSRD lies not in the final report, but in the internal transformation it drives. The reporting process pushes companies to uncover new business opportunities, de-risk investments, and address inefficiencies that reduce costs and emissions.

Building trust and competitive advantage →

Trust is the bridge between sustainability action and brand equity. Companies must ask whether every decision builds or erodes stakeholder confidence. Authenticity, transparency, and visible progress are non-negotiable.

Embracing nuance and agility →

A one-size-fits-all approach to sustainability is no longer viable in a globalised yet politically fractured environment. Companies need a values-based core and clear strategic framework, but with enough flexibility for local adaptation in implementation and communication.

Biodiversity as the next frontier →

While the public and regulatory focus on biodiversity is still emerging, forward-thinking companies are already preparing. They are experimenting with measurement frameworks, piloting nature-positive initiatives, and treating biodiversity as both a material risk and an untapped opportunity.

The growing maturity of sustainability →

Sustainability’s growing maturity is evident in the shift from purpose-driven ideals to performance-driven metrics. The rollout of the CSRD has elevated ESG from a compliance exercise to a core business discipline.

Unlocking the value of CSRD →

The true value of CSRD lies not in the final report, but in the internal transformation it drives. The reporting process pushes companies to uncover new business opportunities, de-risk investments, and address inefficiencies that reduce costs and emissions.

Building trust and competitive advantage →

Trust is the bridge between sustainability action and brand equity. Companies must ask whether every decision builds or erodes stakeholder confidence. Authenticity, transparency, and visible progress are non-negotiable.

Embracing nuance and agility →

A one-size-fits-all approach to sustainability is no longer viable in a globalised yet politically fractured environment. Companies need a values-based core and clear strategic framework, but with enough flexibility for local adaptation in implementation and communication.

Biodiversity as the next frontier →

While the public and regulatory focus on biodiversity is still emerging, forward-thinking companies are already preparing. They are experimenting with measurement frameworks, piloting nature-positive initiatives, and treating biodiversity as both a material risk and an untapped opportunity.

Key findings – Part 2

In search of value creation

Part 2 of the barometer deep-dives into the first CSRD-based reports, exploring how companies disclose risks and opportunities and whether they leverage the Double Materiality Assessment (DMA) to identify business potential and help users interpret the commercial relevance of materiality.

Integrated reporting is challenging →

A review of 25 DMA disclosures shows mixed results on clarity and usability. For disclosures to be decision-useful, users must be able to quickly identify which topics to monitor across short, medium, and long-term horizons.

Mind the integration gap →

The red thread between CEO letters, Enterprise Risk Management, and DMA disclosures is often incomplete. This disconnect undermines comparability and investor confidence, making it harder to link strategic ambition with financial resilience.

Bridge the usability gap →

In two out of three analysed reports, it is neither quick nor straightforward to gain a clear overview of material risks and opportunities, time horizons, and their materiality rationale. This slows analyst workflows and undermines CSRD’s aim to put ESG on par with financial reporting.

Integrated reporting is challenging →

A review of 25 DMA disclosures shows mixed results on clarity and usability. For disclosures to be decision-useful, users must be able to quickly identify which topics to monitor across short, medium, and long-term horizons.

Mind the integration gap →

The red thread between CEO letters, Enterprise Risk Management, and DMA disclosures is often incomplete. This disconnect undermines comparability and investor confidence, making it harder to link strategic ambition with financial resilience.

Bridge the usability gap →

In two out of three analysed reports, it is neither quick nor straightforward to gain a clear overview of material risks and opportunities, time horizons, and their materiality rationale. This slows analyst workflows and undermines CSRD’s aim to put ESG on par with financial reporting.

We’re a 30-strong team of strategists, creatives, and project managers based in Copenhagen and Aarhus.

We help businesses shape agendas, build positions and create experiences that set brands apart while driving meaningful change. We see responsibility as the currency of brand equity and know that close collaboration is essential to shape a better world. With creativity as our driving force, we challenge the status quo and explore new paths to create cohesion, synergy and lasting brand value.

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The 2025 ESG Barometer shows how companies are moving from reporting to results – building trust, driving innovation and creating real value. It’s free to download, we just need a few details before you get access.

Say hello

Success in a changing world requires an insight driven creative approach to your business. We are in for the long run, but it all starts with a conversation.

Christina Blak

ESG lead & partner
cbl@make.dk
+45 40 59 03 74

Helena Cassøe Halsted

Corporate communications director & associate partner
hca@make.dk
+45 53 73 00 89

Vester Farimagsgade 41
1606 Copenhagen, Denmark

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