CSRD for Hospitality: What Hotels, Restaurants, and Caterers Must Report in 2025

If you operate across foodservice or hospitality, this guide outlines what CSRD means for your organization, what you need to prepare, and how emissions—especially Scope 3—fit into your reporting.

For a refresher on emission scopes, visit our Scope 1, 2, and 3 Emissions Guide for Food Businesses.

What Is CSRD?

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is an EU law requiring large and listed companies to report sustainability information in a standardized, comparable way.

It replaces the older NFRD framework and introduces more detailed disclosures, including greenhouse gas emissions, transition planning, risks, and governance.

CSRD applies gradually, with different groups reporting in different years. After updates made through the Omnibus Directive, the scope for smaller companies has been delayed, but major operators in hospitality and foodservice are increasingly included.

The reporting itself must follow the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS)—notably:

• ESRS E1: Climate Change
• ESRS E5: Resource Use and Circular Economy
• ESRS S3: Workers in the Value Chain

…and others, depending on your materiality assessment.

To understand how CSRD interacts with the GHG Protocol, see our post: GHG Protocol vs CSRD: What Food Businesses Need to Know.

Does CSRD Apply to Hospitality and Foodservice?

In 2025, CSRD applies to:

• Large hotel groups
• Large contract caterers
• Restaurant groups that meet “large company” thresholds
• Listed companies in hospitality
• EU subsidiaries of non-EU companies that meet reporting thresholds (in later stages)

Many hospitality operators fall under CSRD through:

• Size thresholds
• Consolidation under a parent company
• Public listing
• Operating across several EU markets

Even businesses not yet directly included will feel the impact, because CSRD requires companies to request more data from their supply chains. This includes food suppliers, distributors, facilities management partners, and outsourced services.

What Hospitality Businesses Must Report (2025 Requirements)

Under CSRD and ESRS E1, companies must disclose:

1. Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Scope 1, 2, and 3)

This includes:

• Scope 1 — Direct emissions (fuel use, refrigeration leakage, company vehicles)
• Scope 2 — Purchased electricity, heating, and cooling
• Scope 3 — All other value chain emissions

For hospitality businesses, Scope 3 is the dominant category, often driven by:

• Ingredient production
• Food procurement
• Packaging
• Transport and logistics
• Outsourced laundry and waste management

If you need examples of Scope 1–3 in foodservice, see our Examples of Scope 1, 2, and 3 Emissions in the Food Industry.

2. Climate Risks and Opportunities

Hospitality examples might include:

• Temperature-driven impacts on food supply
• Water risk affecting agriculture and food production
• Shifts in guest expectations toward sustainable dining
• Operational risks from energy price volatility

3. Transition Plan for Climate Mitigation

CSRD requires companies to present a structured plan to reduce emissions in line with climate targets.

For foodservice, this often involves:

• Menu redesign
• Ingredient sourcing strategies
• Supplier engagement
• Energy efficiency
• Waste reduction

4. Policies, Actions, and Resources Dedicated to Climate Impact

CSRD requires explanations of:

• Policies in place (e.g., procurement policies)
• Actions taken (e.g., switching to lower-impact ingredients)
• Resources and teams managing sustainability
• These must connect to measurable outcomes.

5. Targets and Progress Tracking

Businesses must disclose:

• Climate-related targets
• Baseline year
• Methodology behind the target
• Performance against the target

This applies to Scope 1, 2, and 3 unless justified otherwise.

If you’re working with targets, you may want to revisit your internal SBTi alignment; see CSRD, Scope 3, and SBTi for more guidance.

Why CSRD Is Especially Relevant to Hospitality

1. High dependence on supply-chain emissions

In hotels, restaurants, and catering, emissions tied to ingredients, suppliers, transport, and waste typically represent the majority of the footprint.

2. Food procurement requires detailed data

CSRD reporting relies on GHG Protocol principles. For food emissions, this often means:

• Using quantity-based data
• Applying LCA-based emission factors
• Understanding ingredient-level variation

Category averages can misrepresent your true impacts, which affects reporting accuracy.

3. Large businesses need structured, comparable reporting

Hospitality operators span locations, countries, and supplier networks. CSRD requires a consistent reporting methodology across the entire entity.

4. Clients and partners request CSRD-aligned data

Even if your company does not fall under CSRD yet, your clients may. Catering contracts and hotel procurement teams increasingly ask suppliers for emissions data that aligns with ESRS E1.

How Hospitality Businesses Can Prepare for 2026

Here is a practical starting point.

1. Confirm your reporting boundaries
Clarify which sites, brands, and legal entities are included.

2. Establish a reliable baseline
A credible Scope 1–3 baseline provides the foundation for all CSRD climate disclosures.

3. Organize procurement data
Quantity-based ingredient data is central for food-related emissions.

4. Assess climate risks and dependencies
Identify risks linked to supply chains, energy, and food production.

5. Document climate policies and governance
CSRD requires structured, transparent descriptions.

6. Prepare your internal audit trail
Every data source, assumption, and emission factor must be traceable.

How Klimato Supports CSRD-Aligned Reporting

Klimato helps hospitality businesses calculate and structure food-related emissions data so it can be used in internal or external reporting frameworks.

Our solution:

• Uses emission factors based on LCA research aligned with GHG Protocol principles
• Categorizes emissions across Scope 1, 2, and 3
• Integrates with procurement and sales data
• Provides ingredient-level insights for food-related Scope 3
• Helps large operators track reductions across locations
• Supports CSRD-aligned reporting with structured, consistent outputs