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For SMEs, ESG reporting in 2026 is no longer driven by legislation. The same applies to a large number of large Danish companies.
The omnibus package envisages exempting companies with fewer than 1,000 employees from CSRD reporting.
For many Danish companies, this means that direct regulatory pressure is disappearing. The extensive reporting requirements that have characterized the debate in recent years are all but gone.
Even so, the ESG work does not stop.
On the contrary, the vast majority of companies continue to collect and report on ESG data such as climate footprint, resource consumption and working conditions.
The question is therefore not, whether Danish companies are working on ESG in 2026, but what drives them, and how they approach it.
Some companies choose to slow down. When the legal requirement disappears, they choose to prioritize their resources differently.
Others continue. Not because legislation dictates it, but because it has business value and that reporting requirements now come from elsewhere.
Broadly speaking, these companies can be divided into two groups.
The Proactive
The first group works proactively with ESG.
For them, ESG is not a reporting project, but an integral part of the business strategy.
They have identified a clear correlation between ESG efforts and the competitiveness of the company - whether in terms of differentiation in the market, risk management, streamlining or positioning towards customers and partners.
ESG data is actively used in everyday life. As a basis for decision. As a dialogue tool. As a way to future-proof the business, both here and now and in the longer term.
The Reactive
The second group has a more reactive approach.
Although the CSRD requirement is disappearing, they continue to — and increasingly — find themselves being met with specific requests for ESG data from customers, banks and investors. Here ESG is less about strategy, but more about access.
Access to customers who make demands on their suppliers.
Access to capital where ESG is included as part of credit ratings and risk models.
These trends are already evident today and are expected to become even more widespread in 2026.
Lack of ESG data can therefore have consequences. That could mean the company being opted out of a tender offer, or meeting with a higher risk rating with the bank.
For the reactive companies, ESG is not about being the best in class, but about being able to answer when asked.
VSME as a common reference point
Common to both proactive and reactive companies is the need for a common, understandable and proportionate basis for ESG data.
Here, the VSME standard has established itself as the natural reference point for SMEs in the EU.
VSME stands for Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for Non-Listed Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and has been developed with one clear purpose: to standardise ESG reporting for SMEs without making the work unnecessarily complex.
The standard consists of 20 information requirements and about 60 data points divided into two modules.
The basic module covers the most basic and requested information, while the extended module goes a little deeper and typically meets the demands of investors and financial players.
Compared to the ESRS standards, which hold more than 1,000 data points, the difference is evident.
Where ESRS targets large, publicly traded companies with significant reporting resources, the VSME standard is based on the reality of an SME.
With VSME, it becomes possible to collect and structure the ESG data that is actually used in the dialogue with customers, banks and investors. Without that the work becomes a heavy administrative exercise with long annual audit trails.
For some companies, VSME becomes a minimum tool that ensures access to the market and capital.
For others, it becomes a strategic foundation, with ESG data actively supporting sales, procurement and cost reductions.
Common to both is the recognition that ESG in 2026 is not about reporting for reporting's sake, but about standing strong in dialogue with the company's key stakeholders.
And this is where VSME makes sense for most Danish SMEs.
