ESRS: Unpicking the Positive/ Negative Impact condundrum

[@svenruckert4602]

Thank you very much for this excellent comment! Impacts, risks and opportunities are the basic elements of any materiality analysis. So the fact that there is so little clarity about what constitutes an impact is all the more shocking. Until recently, I had a construct that was self-contained and had no contradictions. The latest discussions on this topic have shown that this is not the case. I would therefore like to ask you again for further clarification: 1) In the glossary of the ESRS it says: "Impacts indicate the undertaking's contribution, negative or positive, to sustainable development." How do you define impact? Can an impact be used as a synonym for the contribution to sustainable development? 2) What do you understand by a potential impact? Can we say that a potential impact is an impact that is associated with uncertainties? In other words, all impacts in the future are associated with uncertainty and impacts in the short-term reporting period that cannot be proven 100% and are associated with uncertainty. 3)I would then like to address this sentence: ‘Positive impacts related to a material matter shall be considered only once any potential negative impact related to that matter have been duly identified and mitigated.’ However, I would only express my thoughts on this once I know your point of view.

[@omaralmamlouk]

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