SME sustainability reporting: progress and challenges for VSME adoption
A recent EFRAG survey of 282 stakeholders reveals that while awareness of the Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard (VSME) has reached 95%, regulatory uncertainty continues to hinder full market adoption. Small and medium-sized enterprises are finding the standard beneficial for securing finance and satisfying corporate partners, yet they struggle with complex environmental data and a lack of digital tools. EFRAG intends to address these gaps with enhanced technical guidance and a follow-up assessment scheduled for 2026.
Points clés
- EFRAG conducted a market acceptance survey between October and November 2025 involving 282 respondents across Europe.
- General awareness of the VSME standard is exceptionally high at 95%, with over 60% of participants following its development since 2022.
- Currently, 43% of preparers have fully applied the VSME, while 18% have not yet adopted it due to resource constraints.
- Geographically, the highest volume of survey participation originated from France, Italy, and Germany.
- Sustainability reporting remains largely manual, with 57% of reports still produced in PDF or other non-digital formats.
- Most preparers require between one to three weeks to compile the necessary data for a VSME-compliant report.
- The reporting of workforce characteristics and health and safety is considered easy, whereas Energy and GHG emissions (B3) remain highly complex.
- 45% of respondents utilize the VSME Digital Template, though many still rely on national or proprietary reporting tools.
- Stakeholders are increasingly demanding information beyond the VSME scope, specifically regarding Scope 3 emissions and EU Taxonomy alignment.
- EFRAG has committed to a second evaluation in 2026 to track progress and the effectiveness of new support materials.
À retenir
So, it turns out that SMEs actually know about sustainability reporting, but knowing about it and actually doing it are two very different things—much like your New Year’s resolution to visit the gym. While the VSME is supposed to make life easier, companies are still drowning in a sea of PDFs and scratching their heads over biodiversity metrics. My advice? Don’t panic just yet; apparently, we’re all just waiting for a “digital tool” to magically fix everything by 2026. Until then, keep enjoying those “one to three weeks” of data entry fun!
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