SHERIDAN, WYOMING - December 2, 2025 - As regulatory expectations and investor scrutiny rise across Europe, the EUPD Group's ESG Transparency Award 2025 is spotlighting companies that no longer treat sustainability reporting as a mere compliance exercise, but as an engine for competitive differentiation and stakeholder trust. Presented in Bonn as part of this year's ESG Summit, the award recognizes more than 50 leading European companies that have embedded forward-looking ESG strategies into their organizations and communicate them transparently through robust sustainability reports.
ESG transparency moves from obligation to value driver
The EUPD Group positions its ESG Transparency Award as a signal to the market that well-structured, clearly communicated sustainability strategies are now central to corporate performance. The award honors organizations that have anchored ESG in their business models and disclose their progress in a way that investors, customers and employees can understand and evaluate.
Award recipients demonstrate that sustainability reporting is not just about following new rules but about shaping a credible corporate narrative. They show how environmental, social and governance commitments link to long-term value creation, risk management and innovation, particularly in sectors under strong regulatory and stakeholder pressure.
"The ESG Transparency Award affirms our commitment to sustainability. Transparency is not just about compliance-it creates trust and drives long-term value for our stakeholders and our company", underlines Claudia von Bothmer, Director Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability at Telefónica Germany GmbH & Co. OHG, an award recipient of this year's ESG Transparency Award.
EUPD's ESG Transparency Evaluation Standard sets a high bar
At the core of the award is the ESG Transparency Evaluation Standard developed by the EUPD Group. This framework consolidates the most relevant European and international guidelines for sustainability reporting into a single, differentiated assessment model.
The methodology is structured to give both stakeholders and shareholders a clear view of how companies are performing on ESG transparency:
- More than 350 detailed audit criteria
- Five evaluation clusters: Transparency, Environmental, Social, Governance and Regulatory Landscape
- A structured scoring approach that reflects both disclosure quality and strategic coherence
For companies navigating the evolving landscape of sustainability directives and voluntary standards, this standardized evaluation provides orientation and helps them benchmark their own reporting maturity against European peers.
CSRD compliance efforts reshape the competitive landscape
The 2025 award cycle highlights how far many companies have already progressed on their path toward CSRD-compliant reporting. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is driving a more rigorous, data-driven approach to ESG disclosures for Europe's largest companies, but the award findings also suggest that frontrunners view CSRD as a strategic opportunity rather than a burden.
This is particularly visible in the case of Merck, which emphasized its leading role within its industry by winning recognition for its first CSRD-compliant report. "The future of ESG reporting goes beyond compliance; it's about gaining competitive advantage. We are proud that our first CSRD-compliant report won the 2025 ESG Transparency Award", states Judith Rahner, Senior Manager Sustainability Reporting at Merck.
As reporting obligations are adjusted and, for many companies, reduced, the EUPD Group underscores that the importance of a clear ESG strategy and transparent communication will only increase. Those who continue to invest in high-quality reporting are likely to differentiate themselves in capital markets, in customer tenders and in employer branding.
Benchmarking 2,000 ESG reports to give business leaders guidance
One of the most strategic elements of the ESG Transparency Award is the underlying data pool. Insights from more than 2,000 evaluated ESG reports are being consolidated into a comprehensive benchmark database designed to guide companies in times of regulatory and economic uncertainty.
This benchmarking supports decision-makers by:
- Showing how leading peers structure their sustainability reports
- Highlighting emerging best practices in materiality, metrics and governance
- Offering evidence-based guidance on how ESG strategy can be communicated in a way that resonates with investors and other stakeholders
For boards, sustainability officers and finance leaders, this type of comparative view is increasingly important when deciding where to invest scarce resources in ESG data, systems and reporting capabilities.
Pioneers that stay the course on ESG reporting will set the tone
Against the backdrop of recent CSRD adjustments, the EUPD Group expects a clearer split to emerge between companies that see ESG as a central element of their strategic future and those that scale back their efforts once minimum reporting thresholds are reduced.
"The most recent adjustments to the CSRD exemplify which companies regard ESG as central element of their strategic future. Reduced reporting duties will reveal which companies will continue their ESG reporting diligently and which might waver from their current path. It is important to make this distinction because it identifies the transparent and ambitious pioneers wanting to shape the future", as Steffen Klink, COO of the EUPD Group, underlines the relevance of today's efforts in the European and global economy.
For executives and sustainability leaders across Europe, the ESG Transparency Award 2025 thus serves as both recognition and warning: recognition for those who have already made transparency a competitive advantage, and a warning that in a more selective reporting environment, markets will quickly see which companies remain committed to ESG leadership.
Learn more about the ESG Transparency Award 2025 and the EUPD Group's evaluation approach via the official award information page.