Less bureaucracy, more trust: auditable sustainability as a competitive advantage by 2026. Viviana Franciotti, January 2026

In recent months, many companies have received with relief a clear signal from Europe: they are looking to simplify part of the sustainability regulatory framework. The European Commission presented an Omnibus package aimed at reducing administrative burden and put forward a “stop-the-clock” proposal to postpone the application of certain requirements (e.g. delaying reporting obligations for companies that were going to report in 2026/2027) and give time to agree on substantive changes.

Now, here’s the nuance that matters, both for a CEO and for Quality/Environment or Sustainability Managers:

Although regulation is simplified, the market is not simplified.

Customers, banks, tenders and large groups continue to ask for the same thing: reliable, comparable and defensible information. And those who have it, compete better.

The challenge: from “we say” to “we demonstrate”

In 2026 the problem is no longer just greenwashing. It is something more commonplace: organizations that do things well (or want to do them), but have not built a system capable of sustaining it with evidence.

This usually occurs when:

• A customer ESG questionnaire arrives and each customer asks for different data;
• you have to respond to a financial institution or prepare a report, and the data do not add up (different methodologies, scattered sources, lack of controls);
• Objectives are published, but there is no traceability or internal review to support them.

At that point, sustainability ceases to be an opportunity and becomes a cost, internal friction and reputational risk. The solution is not to make more reports. The solution is to build auditable sustainability: simple, proportional, and connected to the business.

VSME: the common language that orders the value chain

For many SMEs and medium-sized companies, the big pain is not the lack of commitment: it is fragmentation. Dozens of questionnaires, disparate metrics, and incompatible formats. That is why the VSME (Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for SMEs) developed by EFRAG is relevant: a voluntary standard for unlisted micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, designed to be proportional and aligned with the European reporting ecosystem.

In addition, the European Commission adopted a Recommendation (30 July 2025) on voluntary reporting for SMEs, precisely to reduce the burden and make it easier for them to respond consistently to requests for information from large companies and financial institutions subject to mandatory reporting.

In practical terms: VSME should not be experienced as an added bureaucracy, but as a single framework to respond coherently and avoid recurrent improvisation. It allows the organization to stop “reassembling answers” every time the interlocutor changes and begin to consolidate a common, comparable and defensible language.

ISO 9001 and ISO 14001: the bridge between data and trust

This is where the management system ceases to be a certificate and becomes a real competitive advantage, because it provides discipline of processes, responsibilities, controls, review and continuous improvement.

In addition, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 are in the process of being revised towards their new editions in 2026 (with publication scheduled for 2026). In practical terms, the message for organizations is clear: it is not enough to declare a climate commitment; Climate change must be integrated as an explicit consideration within the management system (when relevant) and be able to demonstrate it with traceable evidence: risks, decisions, controls and monitoring.

This is not about adding a “green” phrase. He goes on to answer rigorously:

• How does the weather affect my operation (energy cost, continuity, critical suppliers, permitting, logistics, water, extreme events)?
• What risks and opportunities appear?
• What controls, objectives and evidence show that we are managing it?

When it is well integrated, you gain something that the market values very much: traceability (who, what, when, how) and repeatability (it does not depend on a person or a specific Excel).

Three examples to land auditable sustainability

Without the need for excessive complexity, this approach is clearly applied in common sectors of the sustainability business ecosystem:

• Energy. Transition objectives and plans work when they are supported by consistent, controlled data and traceable decisions across operations, maintenance, purchasing, and projects.
• Services, water and infrastructure. Adaptation and resilience require moving from plans to risk management and continuity, with operational indicators, accountability and evidence of decisions.
• Industry. The recurring pain is in the value chain: customer requirements, requests for information, and data consistency. VSME helps structure what to report; ISO helps turn that information into defensible evidence before audits, tenders and contracts.

Minimum Viable Approach to Get Started

If a company wants to move forward now, without setting up a specific reporting department, there is a short and effective way:
1. Select 8–12 I/S/G indicators that really move business (costs, risks, reputation, contracts).
2. Assign data owner by process (not just “sustainability”): purchasing, operations, HR, quality, finance.
3. Define minimum traceability: source → method → control → review → approval.
4. Integrate climate into 4.1/4.2 and risk management (ISO): make it clear how it affects and what decisions are made.
5. Use VSME as a structure (if applicable) to respond consistently to customers and banks.

Regulatory simplification is an opportunity: less noise, more focus. But the new competitive standard will not be who publishes the most, but who demonstrates best.

By 2026, the advantage will be in auditable, simple and useful sustainability: one that reduces friction with customers, facilitates financing, organizes the supply chain and turns commitment into trust.

Viviana Franciotti
CEO & Founder of VF Expertise

VF Expertise is a member of the Private Business and Climate Foundation