New digital platform helps SMEs with sustainability reporting
March 2025 - To support SMEs in collecting and sharing their sustainability data, Febelfin and Isabel are launching an innovative digital platform. This platform offers a uniform, secure and simple way to report ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) data.
SMEs can thus more easily meet the expectations of banks, investors and large companies, without a high administrative burden.
Why is this important for SMEs?
A new European directive, the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), came into force on 2 December 2024. Large companies will be required to report extensively on sustainability. This means they need ESG data from their business partners, including SMEs. Banks must also request this data to better assess the sustainability risks of their loan portfolios.
Many SMEs experience ESG reporting as complex and time-consuming. They are faced with different questionnaires from various parties, which creates an administrative burden. This new platform changes this. By using a uniform questionnaire and a central data platform, the reporting process is streamlined and simplified.
What does the platform offer?
It has been agreed within the financial sector to develop a uniform and accessible questionnaire for collecting ESG data from SMEs. This questionnaire will be aligned with the recently published European VSME standard. The survey will be done via the digital platform Kube, on which SMEs can easily and securely share their ESG data with various parties, such as banks, investors, large corporations and governments.
Key benefits for SMEs:
Simplicity and time savings: no more filling in dozens of disparate questionnaires, just one standard approach.
Cost savings: free access to the platform and reduced administrative costs.
Insight into sustainability: the platform gives SMEs an overview of their ESG status and what improvements can be made.
Preparing for the future: sustainability is increasingly important for financing and business cooperation.
Thanks to this unified approach, SMEs no longer have to submit the same data over and over again to different parties. This not only saves them time, but also ensures that their ESG profile is presented in a standardised way.
Who is behind this project?
This platform is an initiative of Febelfin, the federation of the Belgian financial sector, in collaboration with Isabel, a digital platform founded by four major banks: Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING Belgium and KBC. Isabel has a proven track record in secure and efficient digital data processing and will further extend its existing platform Kube to collect and share ESG data in a secure way.
Who is behind this project?
This platform is an initiative of Febelfin, the federation of the Belgian financial sector, in collaboration with Isabel, a digital platform founded by four major banks: Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING Belgium and KBC. Isabel has a proven track record in secure and efficient digital data processing and will further extend its existing platform Kube to collect and share ESG data in a secure way.
What are the next steps?
Development of the platform is in full swing. A pilot phase will start in summer 2025, during which a test version will be rolled out and evaluated. This will be followed by a full launch later that year.
The aim of this initiative is to give SMEs maximum support in their sustainability reporting. Not only does it help them comply with the new regulations, it also provides valuable insights to strategically integrate sustainability into their operations.
Source: Febelfin, February 2025
