The EU is the global climate action leader, where they go others follow; see GDPR and numerous other standards and directives. Now there’s a new range of EU climate action directives on the way for business (EED¹ , CSRD²,    ESRS(EFRAG)³ see below).
How will your organisation comply?
Busy organisations tend to prioritise resources for compliance over performance; to meet your organisation’s and our collective climate action targets I argue that performance leadership is the route to compliance with these new directives, measurement for energy efficiency delivers the data for compliance (the EU agree⁴).
The objective of business is to generate profit – or at least reduce losses in the current energy price crisis i.e. identify energy savings opportunities to reduce energy use and reduce costs. The avoidance of risk must be replaced with the pursuit of CO₂ reduction in absolute terms.
Whilst the EU continuously updates its directives (we are now on the 3rd Energy Efficiency Directive or EED) to reduce uncertainty, it is still complex for business to navigate, with one arm of business’ action often duplicating another’s reporting, wasting time and precious resources.
With the EED 2012 Article 8 energy audit requirement, the EU’s aim was not to catch us out, it was to ‘identify energy savings opportunities’ (EU Art.8 Guidance⁵). The collective aim of these new corporate reporting and climate action directives is CO₂ reduction.
Which directives?

• EEDi        Energy Efficiency Directive 2024 will change the 4 year audit requirement from greater than 250 employees to 10Tj (Terajoule) of energy or 280,000 Litres of diesel equivalent.
  •    This small change will bring many tens of thousands of organisations into the remit for ‘energy audits’ – never before has there been a need to so clearly explain the intent of a directive at local level – “this is the one directive that should make you money” to quote a commission official back in 2012 when it was first announced.
  • An average HDV consumes 35,000L of diesel per year thus 280,000L = <10 trucks.
• CSRDii        Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive due from 2025 for large companies and 2028 for pretty much all listed companies including SMEs, its impact will cascade down the supply chain. All the micro / SME business in supply chains will be asked for data – start now.
• ESRSiii        European Sustainability Reporting Standards set out how companies report on sustainability-related impacts, opportunities, and risks under CSRD.
• EU Taxonomy⁶ – definitions of what is green for financing.

How will your business reduce its transport CO₂ emissions? My new book A Light Guide to EnergySavings in Transport provides a practical guide to identifying energy saving opportunities – aka energy audits - in good time for this year’s audit deadline (December 2023).

_________________________
¹ EED 2024 https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-efficiency-targets-directive-and-rules/energy-efficiency-directive_en
² CSRD 2023 https://finance.ec.europa.eu/capital-markets-union-and-financial-markets/company-reporting-and-auditing/company-reporting/corporate-sustainability-reporting_en
³EU EFRAG https://www.efrag.org/About/Facts EFRAG is a private association established in 2001 with the encouragement of the European Commission to serve the public interest. EFRAG extended its mission in 2022 following the new role assigned to EFRAG in the CSRD, providing Technical Advice to the European Commission in the form of fully prepared draft EU Sustainability Reporting Standards and/or draft amendments to these Standards. Its Member Organisations are European stakeholders and National Organisations and Civil Society Organisations. EFRAG’s activities are organised in two pillars: A Financial Reporting Pillar. Secondly, a Sustainability Reporting Pillar: developing draft EU Sustainability Reporting Standards, and related amendments for the European Commission.
⁴ EU on Energy Efficiency First https://energy.ec.europa.eu/topics/energy-efficiency/energy-efficiency-targets-
directive-and-rules/energy-efficiency-first-principle_en
⁵ Commission Staff Working document on Article 8 EED 2012 see https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A52013SC0447 page 2 paragraphs 1 to 4.
⁶ The EU Taxonomy Compass is a very useful tool, look up your sector or business and see if you or your proposed ‘green’ solutions are in it. https://ec.europa.eu/sustainable-finance-taxonomy/taxonomy-compass
 Conor Molloy MSc (ENERGY) MCILT CEM-I CMVP trains companies to maximise their energy performance, minimising emissions on the path to net-zero.
“The greenest, most profitable energy is the energy you do not use” - https://aems.ie/  2006

An Al Gore Climate Reality leader since 2018, Conor has been helping business save fuel and manage their energy use for profit and planet – to reduce their CO₂/GHG emissions – since 2005.
Accepted as a member of the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE), Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), Freight Transport Association Ireland (FTAI), and the Efficiency Valuation Organisation (EVO).  He is a registered energy auditor, qualified trainer, and experienced facilitator.
In 2018 Conor was invited to join the Global Logistics Emissions Council (GLEC) expert panel based on his work as the designer and implementer of the EEOS funded  ECOfleet programme , where over 100 Irish freight operators can now get paid for their fuel and CO_₂ savings (2014-2030).

Conor Molloy’s new book A 'Light' Guide to Energy Savings in Transport (riverpublishers.com)is available now!