Since 1997 Karin Furman Partner TPA Austria. A tax advisor wants to be proactive: they know the basics of real estate taxation. Consistency– Reporting obligations of companies. We talk to her about companies and Climate protection.

Courier: Companies and sustainability – some people care about it, others less so. Where are we on this issue?

Karin Furman: Already to-dos and to-dos are active. Hence the large, listed companies. But we, like many others, will soon be subject to a reporting requirement from 2025. We have been preparing for this since 2021.

Not all criteria for reporting requirements have been fixed yet.

That's right, we're still waiting. For example, with size criteria of companies. And the Austrian local implementation is still long overdue. However, the topic stuck with all companies required to report from 2025 onwards.

And now.

There are several considerations you should make in advance. Preparatory work, material analysis, vital statistics, etc. When we did it for the first time in 2021, we had to deal with completely new topics. For example: How much waste do we produce? We hadn't thought about that before.

These are very specific topics.

Yes, this is the full list of topics. From workforce initiatives to climate change and CO₂-The track for governance is like what I do about corruption. For us, this coincided with an energy efficiency audit. We discovered a lot about ourselves, including structured risk analysis. Overall a positive experience. Don't worry about stability. Because companies collected a lot – not in a structured way.

So you do it yourself.

Yes. And as for the banks, some of them need to ask more about this. For clients who request this and want to know who they are working with. For employees who are interested in what the company is doing. A variety of stakeholders are putting a lot of emphasis on this – and surely more so in the future.

However, there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding this topic.

I agree with you on the supply chain issue, although the Germans already have a state supply chain law. But we have standards for all other topics. Banks, for example, have come together to standardize their criteria and questionnaires.

There are also smaller companies that “voluntarily” go green, write reports and follow ESG criteria.

Yes, because they do it for their customers, investors and employees. The advantage is that these titles give you a new self-image. For capital market and investors. In the future, we will distinguish between green and brown companies – the latter should expect disadvantages on several levels.

Do companies understand that this topic should be here?

For many, yes, not for all. Companies must consider their impact on the environment. This is new to her.

Nevertheless, the title is often considered a competitive disadvantage.

That's good. Butterfly topics will quickly become important topics. The energy question of where we get gas from has not been thought about for a long time. I think: someone has to start and it will have an impact. If we always wait for everyone to do something at the same time, nothing will happen.

Promote climate protection in a well-informed manner

On the road to something sustainable Economic world A lot has been decided at the EU level, some things (such as supply chain legislation) are still pending Discussion. Sustainability reporting facing large companies. From 2025, companies with more than 250 employees will have to implement their measures environment, social and corporate governance issues and record them in a report. A fall from 2026 onwards Listed SMEs Under obligation.

event

Climate Time”Climate time“-Curier and Glacier's initiative hosted a high-profile event on March 6: the Climate Leaders Circle. Its purpose is to create a valuable exchange for the managers of the company. Union Ministers and others will be present Martin Couture As well as the CEO of leading companies. Spaces are limited.

If you are interested, please register here: [email protected]

The series is published with editorial freedom in collaboration with Glacier.