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Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) compliance can feel overwhelming for many businesses. In conversations with companies navigating this new regulation, a recurring question surfaces:

“We’re running into complexities with CSRD—how can we set the right priorities and move forward effectively?”

As sustainability becomes a critical factor in future business success, understanding how to approach CSRD efficiently is essential. Noah Schaul, Director of Corporate Training at Inchainge, recently explored this issue with Marco Rog, sustainability expert and Chief Ecosystem Officer (ECO-CEO) at Circular Clarity.

The Pitfall of a Fragmented Approach

Noah Schaul highlights a common challenge:

“A common pitfall is assigning a few individuals to focus solely on reporting, while many employees—including those at the board level—remain uninformed about the significance of aligning with CSRD or other future-focused benchmarks and legislation. In some cases, companies haven’t even produced a comprehensive sustainability or impact report, often due to the complexities that arise after initial enthusiasm fades and day-to-day operations take over.”

Meanwhile, Marco Rog emphasizes the opportunity hidden within CSRD:

“When approached effectively, CSRD alignment can act as a catalyst, helping companies align with future markets like the circular economy. It’s an exciting journey that merges business development with the challenge of future-proofing.”

Why Awareness Comes First

CSRD is highly technical and packed with data points that can often seem disconnected from broader sustainability goals. This makes it difficult to integrate into business strategy unless key stakeholders, including board members and leadership teams, have a clear understanding of sustainability principles and circular economy strategies.

Marco emphasizes: “The boardroom and key employees must understand sustainability and circularity strategies, principles, and opportunities. They need to ask themselves, ‘What can happen in a company during a sustainability transformation?”

The biggest challenge? Finding time to onboard all relevant stakeholders without disrupting day-to-day operations. This is where interactive learning solutions, like business simulation games, can be game-changers

Applying Double Materiality to Business Strategy

A key concept in CSRD is double materiality, which recognizes that businesses must evaluate sustainability from two perspectives:

1. Financial Impact on the Company – How environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors influence financial performance, investment risks, operational costs, regulatory compliance, and long-term business viability.
2. Impact on Society and the Environment – How a company’s operations, products, and decisions affect stakeholders, natural ecosystems, communities, and the broader economy.

In simple terms, double materiality means businesses must consider both their internal risks and their external impact. This holistic approach reinforces corporate responsibility while ensuring long-term business resilience.

Unlike traditional financial materiality, which focuses solely on risks and opportunities that affect a company’s bottom line, double materiality broadens the perspective by integrating the company’s external impact. This shift encourages businesses to take responsibility for their role in sustainability while recognizing that external environmental and social challenges can, in turn, shape their financial future.

By adopting a double materiality lens, businesses can move beyond compliance-driven reporting to a strategic approach that enhances resilience, reputation, and stakeholder trust.

Bridging the Knowledge Gap with Business Simulations

To help companies transition from theoretical knowledge to practical application and build sustainability awareness, Marco recommends using the business simulation game, The Triple Connection.

This game achieves what hours of presentations, webinars, and e-learning sessions cannot: it brings sustainability to life. Employees experience the context of a company undergoing sustainable transformation in a balanced, time-efficient manner – Marco Rog, Sustainability Expert and Chief Ecosystem Officer (ECO-CEO) at Circular Clarity

Through The Triple Connection, participants explore key sustainability questions:

• What KPIs are crucial to sustainability and CSRD alignment?
• How should businesses prioritize sustainability actions?
• What role does each department and each individual play in the sustainability transformation?
• How do decisions across the company and supply chain impact broader ESG goals?
• What are the true costs and revenues, including externalities like environmental impact?

By fostering engagement and hands-on experience, The Triple Connection not only ensures that employees understand CSRD but also encourages them to integrate sustainability into daily operations and long-term strategy.

A Practical Application of Double Materiality through Learning by Doing

Rather than relying on theoretical discussions, Noah Schaul and Marco Rog advocate for hands-on learning through The Triple Connection. This simulation allows employees to experience double materiality by first conducting a materiality assessment for a virtual company before applying the same process to their real-world organization.

Marco highlights the effectiveness of this method: “Employees first conduct a materiality assessment where most data points are predefined. They then apply the same process to their own company, helping them understand existing materiality assessments or feel more involved in creating one.”

This immersive approach demystifies CSRD compliance and helps employees internalize why reporting matters and how it connects to business strategy.

CSRD Compliance as a Competitive Advantage

Companies that approach CSRD strategically can transform compliance into a competitive edge. Instead of viewing it as a burden, organizations should see it as an opportunity to future-proof their operations, enhance sustainability strategies, and build resilience against regulatory and market shifts.

By raising awareness, leveraging interactive business simulations, and applying double materiality in a structured manner, companies can navigate CSRD more efficiently while embedding sustainability into their corporate DNA.

Exploring The Triple Connection for Your Team

Understanding and implementing CSRD doesn’t have to be an overwhelming process. The Triple Connection offers a hands-on way to build awareness, align stakeholders, and develop practical strategies for sustainability transformation.

If you’re interested in seeing how this approach could benefit your company, sign up for a free trial of the game to explore its potential impact or get in touch with us for a consultation call.