ESG data exchange : interoperability gaps and recommendations for companies

Abstract

European regulation requires companies to report ESG data held by their legally independent suppliers — data that must cross organisational boundaries for compliance to be possible. This thesis makes two contributions: it evaluates how well current data exchange mechanisms support interoperable exchange, and it identifies the recommendations that close the gaps found. Platforms and mechanisms currently in use were classified into exchange mechanism approaches, from manual exchange to data spaces, and evaluated against interoperability dimensions defined by the European Interoperability Framework — technical, syntactic, semantic, and organisational, traceability and cross-company exchange — using the CSRD, the EUDR, and the ESPR as the regulatory baseline. The resulting recommendations are built on standards and protocols already adopted in European supply chains: shared vocabularies with GHG Protocol and ESRS, and traceability and exchange standards with GS1 EPCIS or PACT Pathfinder. The thesis also points to what closes remaining gaps: migrating to a more capable exchange mechanism approach, or reaching agreement between companies, by doing so through enforceable bilateral commitments or mandatory participation conditions where technology alone does not suffice. The evaluation rests on a standards landscape that is still evolving.