There are moments when a topic is so much in the spotlight that its actual core almost fades into the background. Sustainability reporting has reached precisely this point. Regulatory requirements are growing, discussions revolve around effort, costs, and complexity – and hardly anyone talks about the benefits.
A study by the Bertelsmann Foundation from November 2025 shows what reporting should actually be about: initiating organizational changes and establishing data collection that offers targeted benefits and added value. Unfortunately, the advantages of the "mandatory product" that is the sustainability report often remain invisible in day-to-day business – they do not arise overnight. Yet ESG reporting can be an efficient lever if used consciously. Companies that view reporting merely as an obligation will never discover its potential. Those that see it as a strategic task, on the other hand, initiate changes that extend far beyond the sustainability team.
Important transformation processes triggered by reporting:
- Strategic revaluation and prioritization of sustainability
- Professionalization and systematization of processes and data management
- Development of effective governance structures
- Strengthening internal collaboration and breaking down silos
- Establishment of stakeholder participation formats
However, this can only be achieved by those who understand that reporting is not an end product, but a process of change. This process leads to efficiency gains, improved control, better market and capital access, and greater employer attractiveness. Of course, certain prerequisites must also be in place: a certain degree of organizational maturity, data quality and IT infrastructure, appropriate resources and expertise, standards, a suitable market and customer environment – and, above all, commitment from management.
The study illustrates the dependence of the effect on the context in a mechanism diagram: from external impulses to internal processes to results such as efficiency gains, risk transparency, or even sales impulses. We regularly see precisely this mechanism in companies that have gone through their first reporting cycles. Decisions become more data-driven, strategies clearer, and investments more justifiable. In some cases, it even opens up access to orders or capital – an effect that the study illustrates with a clear example: "We won orders worth millions because we were able to present a DNK report."
(Quelle: https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/fileadmin/files/user_upload/W_More_than_Reporting.pdfpage 17
In the qualitative interviews conducted as part of the study, improved results and direct economic effects were particularly evident in the following areas:
Efficiency gains: By uncovering energy and resource efficiency potential, consolidating data silos, and identifying inefficient machine runs or expensive old contracts
Expanded strategic control: Reporting forces companies to set clear goals, KPIs, and responsibilities. Materiality ensures a focus on high-impact issues
Better risk management: Environmental and social risks are systematically recorded. Enhanced governance structures promote crisis resilience and stability
Access to customers: For many companies, reporting is becoming the "ticket" to tenders
Access to capital: Banks and investors are increasingly demanding ESG data.
Employer attractiveness: Internal cooperation and exchange increase. Recruiting and retention benefit from a clear sustainability positioning
How companies can leverage added value
The Bertelsmann Stiftung study derives four clear recommendations for action from the results of the qualitative interviews conducted:
Systematically evaluate costs and benefits: Which of the effects described in the study are already visible in your own company? Where is there untapped potential?
View reporting as a management tool: Don't wait until the last minute to take action, but embed reporting early on in governance, strategy, and planning.
Use digital tools and established guidelines: For example, the German Sustainability Code (DNK) to make data work more efficient and consistent.
Actively reuse data: The information collected in reporting should not disappear into a drawer, but should be incorporated into strategy development, decision-making processes, and stakeholder communication.
Our conclusion
Sustainability reporting will remain a challenging field for the foreseeable future. But it has long been more than what often dominates the debate. Used correctly, it creates structures that make companies more resilient, clearer, and more capable of strategic action. In other words, the report itself is only the shell. The real added value comes along the way.
Interested? Click here for the study: https://www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/fileadmin/files/user_upload/W_More_than_Reporting.pdf
