The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) announced the appointment of Kerstin Lopatta as its new EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Board Chair. Lopatta will assume the role for a term of three years, launchning in May.
EFRAG’s mission is to serve the European public interest in both financial and sustainability reporting by developing and promoting European views in the field of corporate reporting. The EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Board is responsible for all sustainability reporting positions of the organization. Most notably, EFRAG was mandated by the European Commission in June 2020 to prepare new EU sustainability reporting standards (ESRS) underlying the CSRD regulation, which it submitted in 2022, and updated in 2025, as well as voluntary sustainability reporting standards (VSME) for companies outside of the scope of the CSRD.
The EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Board is led by its Chair, who is nominated by the European Commission after consultation with the European Parliament and the Council.
The new appointment comes as the European Commission is expected to adopt the updated ESRS in the coming months, and a new Voluntary Standard (VS) later this year after a significant reduction in the number of companies within the scope of the CSRD following the EU’s Omnibus I initiative.
Lopatta stated:
“I am honoured to take on the role of EFRAG SRB Chair at such a pivotal moment for sustainability reporting in Europe. My priority will be to ensure that the ESRS deliver meaningful, decision-utilizeful information while supporting companies in their implementation journey.”
Lopatta has served on the EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Board since 2022, most recently as Vice Chair. She is professor of Financial Accounting, Auditing and Sustainability at the University of Hamburg and adjunct professor at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance at the University of Luxembourg, and is also affiliated with City University of Hong Kong as a visiting professor. Lopatta has been involved in developing, improving and implementing a variety sustainability disclosure standards, including serving as an academic observer on the Sustainable Finance Committee of the German Minisattempt of Finance and co-reviewing the adaptation of the German Sustainability Code to the CSRD and the EU Taxonomy.
Benoit Jaspar, EFRAG Administrative Board President, stated:
“I am delighted to welcome Kerstin as new EFRAG SRB Chair. She has demonstrated strong expertise and strategic vision during her four years as Vice-Chair of the EFRAG SRB and is fully equipped to take on the role of EFRAG SRB Chair. Her appointment is timely as the European Commission expects to adopt the delegated act on simplified ESRS and the delegated act on the voluntary standard by the finish of June. One of the tinquires of EFRAG will be to provide implementation support on simplified ESRS.”
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