Febelfin and Isabel announce the development of a new common digital platform to support SMEs in their sustainability reporting. The innovative platform will provide a uniform, secure and simple way for SMEs to collect and share their ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) data with various stakeholders, such as banks, investors, large enterprises and governments.

By the law of 2 December 2024 (transposition of the European CSRD Directive), large companies will be required to report on their sustainability. For this purpose, they need ESG data from their SME business relations. In addition, banks have to survey their SME customers to correctly identify sustainability risks of their credit portfolio. To offer SMEs clarity on the expectations of this ESG reporting and minimise the administrative burden, this common platform is being developed.

‘European directives should not make it needlessly more difficult for our Flemish SMEs to be compliant,’ notes Flemish minister-president Matthias Diependaele. ‘When faced with a new regulation, we must consistently adopt an SME reflex to unburden our companies administratively wherever possible. This digital platform is time- and cost-saving for our companies so they can focus on what they do best; business.’

‘I am very happy with this initiative, which should make it possible to lighten the administrative burden for our SMEs. This objective is in line with the Walloon Government's desire to achieve a major administrative simplification. In this sense, this tool should be a great step forward.  Pierre-Yves Jeholet, Vice-President and Minister for Economy, Employment, Training and Industry

It has been agreed within the financial sector that a uniform and accessible questionnaire will be developed 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 ESG, on which SMEs can easily and securely share their ESG data with various parties, such as banks, investors, large enterprises and governments.

The platform will unburden SMEs and offer significant administrative simplification and cost savings. A uniform questionnaire can be shared with different parties, avoiding a situation where the SME is faced with a multitude of complex and divergent questionnaires. The questionnaire will be simple and intuitive and SMEs will be able to share their sustainability profile for free.

‘Sustainability reporting should not put unreasonable pressure on companies. Nor can it be the intention to create additional administrative burdens. This new platform will help SMEs to submit data in a simple and standardised way. That is the only once principle in practice. Voka supports and cooperates with this initiative,’ said Hans Maertens, managing director of Voka.

‘AKT for Wallonia supports the objective of streamlining companies' interactions with their ESG data as much as possible, through a centralised platform. We will be vigilant to ensure that the development of the platform continues in the general interest of companies and in perfect synergy with the initiatives of the various players.’ Frédéric Panier, CEO AKT

In the run-up to the development of the platform, the voice of SMEs was heard, with the aim of providing a solution that has tangible added value for both SMEs and large enterprises. With this project, the financial sector is assuming its social role by guiding and supporting SMEs in their transition. It promotes awareness among SMEs about the importance and opportunities of focusing on sustainability.   

In addition to administrative simplification and cost savings, the platform will in fact give SMEs insight into their ESG maturity and priority areas of work and contribute to the development of a forward-looking transition strategy.   

‘For the transition of Belgian SMEs, the financial sector is the partner of choice. With our initiative for a common ESG data platform for SMEs, we are taking a new step to further live up to that partnership. At the same time, we are contributing to the administrative simplification that is crucial for SMEs. From Febelfin and on behalf of the entire financial sector, we are delighted to support SMEs in the opportunities that sustainability brings for them and the broader Belgian economy.' explains Karel Baert, CEO Febelfin

Given the importance of SMEs for the financial sector and vice versa, Febelfin took the initiative for this project. Broad acceptance among various stakeholders is essential here: we are in close consultation with representatives of SMEs, large enterprises, public investment companies and governments.

Considering the significance of this project for Belgian banks and enterprises, Febelfin and Isabel will work closely together to make this project a success. Isabel, a joint venture of the four major banks Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING Belgium and KBC, is the partner of choice for this project given its proven track record in delivering innovative, secure and efficient digital data exchange solutions. Kube - the exchange platform for verified data managed by Isabel and already deployed by the banks in the framework of KYC - will be further developed for this purpose, in close cooperation with all stakeholders involved.

A pilot phase of the project is planned for the summer of 2025, followed by a complete deployment later this year.

‘SMEs are increasingly faced with questions about their sustainability efforts, but today there is no standardised way to collect the right information, easily map it and efficiently share it. With Kube ESG, a unified and user-friendly platform that helps companies easily manage their ESG profile and share it with the right parties, we are bringing change to this with the support of all our stakeholders. ‘This is a strong example of how Verified Corporate Data initiatives like Kube not only enable the very secure and fast exchange of data, but also undeniably create efficiency gains for companies. I am therefore proud that, with this platform, we can unburden SMEs of their sustainability reporting from the autumn onwards.’says Kris De Ryck, CEO of Isabel.