CSRD double materiality in SAP Analytics Cloud: structuring ESRS datapoints

The carbon numbers are only half of CSRD. Before a single tonne of CO2 is reported, the directive requires a double materiality assessment and the disclosure of hundreds of ESRS datapoints. Structuring that in SAP Analytics Cloud — so coverage is trackable and auditable — is its own modelling exercise. Here is how to approach it.

Double materiality, in model terms

CSRD asks two questions for every sustainability topic: how the company impacts people and planet (impact materiality), and how sustainability matters affect the company's value (financial materiality). A topic is reportable if either applies. In SAC, capture this with a Materiality type dimension (impact / financial) and a score or rating measure per topic, so the assessment itself becomes a structured, revisable dataset rather than a spreadsheet.

The ESRS backbone

The ESRS standards are organised into topical blocks — environment (E1 climate through E5 resources), social (S1-S4) and governance (G1). Model an ESRS topic dimension along these, and a Datapoint dimension beneath it for the individual disclosure requirements. This two-level structure mirrors the regulation and lets you roll coverage up from a single datapoint to a whole standard.

Tracking disclosure coverage

The metric that matters during a reporting cycle is coverage: how many material datapoints are actually populated, by whom, and with what status (draft, validated, audited). Model a status measure per datapoint and a calculated coverage rate — populated over material — recomputed at each aggregation level, never averaged across rows. A Story then shows, per ESRS standard, exactly what is still missing before the deadline.

Connect it to the emissions data

The quantitative climate datapoints (E1) draw on your Scope 1, 2 and 3 figures. Keep the materiality and coverage model linked to the emissions structure described in our guide to CSRD Scopes 1, 2 and 3 in SAC, so a single platform carries both the assessment and the numbers behind it.

Versions for the assessment cycle

Materiality is reassessed every year, and auditors want to see how it evolved. A Version dimension lets you compare this year's assessment against last year's and explain any change in scope — a governance expectation under CSRD.

A structured starting point

Start from the free ESG / carbon footprint template or compose a tailored structure with the template generator. For a full CSRD build with the ESRS datapoint catalogue pre-wired and kept current as the standards evolve, our verified & maintained kits remove the heavy structural work.