Omnibus Updates February 2025: What’s Changing and How to Stay Ahead

CO₂ Management is a Business Imperative — Delays Won’t Change That

This week’s Omnibus agreement updates on CSRD and CSDDD have confirmed what many expected: significant rollbacks in sustainability regulations. But for businesses, this isn’t a reason to slow down—it’s a reminder to refocus on what truly drives value.

The Reality: CO₂ Emissions and Costs Won't Disappear

While regulatory uncertainty remains, one thing is clear: businesses will continue to face pressure from investors, banks, partners, and customers. CO₂ reporting and reduction are no longer optional—they’re becoming a key industry metric. Companies that delay now risk being caught off guard when regulations tighten again.

With 80% of companies removed from CSRD, some may feel "off the hook." In reality, major corporations and financial institutions still require CO₂ data from their partners. Business travel emissions (Scope 3.6) remain under scrutiny, and weak tracking could mean exclusion from contracts and tenders. The expectation for accurate CO₂ data is not disappearing—it’s shifting from a compliance exercise to a business imperative.

What Changed: The Omnibus Agreement Breakdown

The Omnibus proposal confirmed several key changes:

CSRD - Major Scope Reduction

• Threshold increased: Now applies only to companies with 1,000+ employees (previously 250+ employees)
• Fewer companies in scope: Over 80% removed from CSRD requirements
• Sector-specific ESG standards scrapped: No tailored reporting rules for industries
• Delays: Many reporting obligations pushed back by another two years

CSDDD - Weakened Due Diligence Requirements

• Risk assessments only apply to direct suppliers
• Monitoring frequency reduced from annual to once every five years
• No obligation to terminate contracts with non-compliant suppliers
• Civil liability removed: Companies will not face penalties for non-compliance yet
• Member states restricted from setting stricter due diligence laws
• Implementation delayed until 2028

These rollbacks reduce the regulatory burden, but they also create uncertainty. Businesses that take a "wait and see" approach will find themselves scrambling when stricter regulations return.

What This Means for Companies

Despite political backpedaling, the fundamental shift towards CO₂ management remains. Sustainability is moving past inflated expectations and into a more pragmatic phase. In the travel industry, carbon emissions are deeply interconnected with business and cost of running business. Companies must focus on:

• Systematic CO₂ tracking and steering: Annual reporting will not suffice. Only end-to-end interconnected tooling will drive targets. Companies need robust auditing, reduction planning, and policy implementation.
• Compensation and insetting: Managing unavoidable emissions through high-quality projects will differentiate leaders from laggards.
• Business-driven sustainability: Goodwill and branding efforts won’t justify budgets anymore. Initiatives must tie directly to business needs and customer demands.
• Proactive preparation: Regulatory uncertainty isn’t an excuse to delay. History shows that last-minute compliance efforts are costly—as seen with GDPR.

The Sustainability Shift: Moving from Hype to Real Impact

We are entering a phase where sustainability must prove its value beyond marketing and compliance checkboxes. The broad, ambitious promises of past years are being scrutinized, and only those with tangible impact will endure. Many companies are reducing the size of sustainability teams but focusing on specialists with deep expertise. Goals are becoming more precise, directly linked to operational efficiency and customer demands.

Sustainability initiatives without clear financial or operational benefits that exist for PR or regulatory box-ticking won’t work anymore. Proactive data-driven sustainability strategies that deliver measurable results will define the future. Carbon targets tied to measurable business value driven by highly skilled sustainability teams is the way to go.

The Time to Act is Now

The political landscape may be shifting, but CO₂ management remains a critical business function. The companies that stay ahead now—by strengthening data tracking, aligning sustainability with business objectives, and embedding policies into decision making processes—will be the ones best positioned when regulations and market demands inevitably tighten again.

Sustainability isn’t going away. It’s just getting real.

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