Simplification or Setback? Double Materiality, Data Gaps & the Fight for ESG Transparency

In this episode of the Sustainability Omnibus Podcast, brought to you by Green Central Banking, hosts Moriah Costa and Simon Nixon speak with Héléna Charrier, Head of Socially Responsible Investment at La Banque Postale Asset Management (LBPAM), a firm with over €74 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM), about how the Omnibus could harm EU competitiveness and drive up the costs of securing accurate ESG data.

With new amendments aiming to simplify the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), Héléna highlights how the value chain cap in the proposed rules would constrain investors from seeking information from companies to check they are appropriately managing risks in line with international standards such as the OECD guidelines. She argues that this would limit companies’ access to investment flows by putting up barriers to dialogue, and put EU investors at a competitive disadvantage by driving up the costs of gathering essential data.

Héléna supports the EU in its goal to optimise the disclosure framework to improve consistency across regulation, and hopes that investors are consulted during this process to identify which data points are most needed to guide investment decisions, but warns that rewriting the rules again will bring compliance costs for companies in the short-term.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Why high-quality, comparable ESG data is essential for investors to manage risk and allocate capital effectively.
• How reducing the number of companies required to report under CSRD could increase data costs and reduce accuracy.
• How rewriting the rules will drive up compliance costs for mid-sized companies.
• How the value chain cap will put EU investors at a competitive disadvantage, and limit companies’ abilities to access investment by limiting investor dialogue on risk management.
• The importance of maintaining the principles of double materiality, auditability, and extra-territoriality in the sustainable finance framework.

Guest Speaker:

Héléna Charrier, Head of Socially Responsible Investment at La Banque Postale Asset Management (LBPAM)

Resources & Further Reading:

• Green Central Banking: https://greencentralbanking.com/2025/02/26/eu-sustainability-omnibus-proposal/

• European Commission’s Omnibus Proposal: https://commission.europa.eu/news/commission-proposes-cut-red-tape-and-simplify-business-environment-2025-02-26_en

• Héléna Charrier speaks to the Financial Times’ Sustainable Views about why high-quality, comparable, and timely data provided by the CSRD are essential for investors to assess risks effectively. https://www.sustainableviews.com/disclosure-is-not-pie-in-the-sky-it-is-about-actively-boosting-business-competitiveness-0c46b2d6/

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