Starting point
What the company chooses to do
What a reader needs to know
ESG explained · comparison
ESG vs csr
ESG vs CSR is a difference of viewpoint: CSR is a company’s account of its own responsible conduct, while ESG is the investor’s measure of environmental, social and governance risk, a term set out in Who Cares Wins in 2004.
UK law asks for neither by name, but it asks for pieces of both — policies and outcomes in the Companies Act, and honest claims under consumer and financial rules.
The short answer
ESG and CSR are not the same
CSR is how a company describes its commitment to behaving responsibly: its values, policies, programmes and community work.
Evidence mapRequirements and evidence
Module 01 / 04
Key point 01
CSR is how a company describes its commitment to behaving responsibly: its values, policies, programmes and community work.
Module 02 / 04
Oversight
ESG is how investors and regulators measure that behaviour: environmental, social and governance factors judged for what they mean for risk, performance and value.
Module 03 / 04
Key point 03
Put simply, CSR is the intent and the activity; ESG is the measurement and the account.
Module 04 / 04
Key point 04
They share a subject, which is why a search for “CSR/ESG” finds both, but they answer to different readers; the full meaning of ESG is on what is ESG.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
CSR is how a company describes its commitment to behaving responsibly: its values, policies, programmes and community work.
ESG is how investors and regulators measure that behaviour: environmental, social and governance factors judged for what they mean for risk, performance and value.
Put simply, CSR is the intent and the activity; ESG is the measurement and the account.
They share a subject, which is why a search for “CSR/ESG” finds both, but they answer to different readers; the full meaning of ESG is on what is ESG.
CSR
What CSR is: a company’s own commitments
Corporate social responsibility describes the responsible conduct a company chooses to take on: ethical sourcing, fair treatment of staff, community programmes, charitable giving, environmental initiatives.
Evidence mapRequirements and evidence
Module 01 / 04
Human rights
1–2
Module 02 / 04
Labour
3–6
Module 03 / 04
Environment
7–9
Module 04 / 04
Anti-corruption
10
| UN Global Compact area | Principles |
|---|---|
| Human rights | 1–2 |
| Labour | 3–6 |
| Environment | 7–9 |
| Anti-corruption | 10 |
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
Corporate social responsibility describes the responsible conduct a company chooses to take on: ethical sourcing, fair treatment of staff, community programmes, charitable giving, environmental initiatives.
Many companies frame those commitments against the UN Global Compact’s Ten Principles, which set out responsibilities on human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption.
CSR reporting is typically narrative and chosen by the company: what it did, why, and what it achieved.
Its audience is the public, employees and communities as much as investors.
ESG
What ESG is: the investor’s measure
ESG came out of the investment industry: Who Cares Wins was written by twenty financial institutions to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into analysis and asset management.
Evidence mapRequirements and evidence
Module 01 / 04
Oversight
ESG came out of the investment industry: Who Cares Wins was written by twenty financial institutions to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into analysis and asset management.
Module 02 / 04
Disclosure
The Principles for Responsible Investment turned that into six investor commitments, including to seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues from the companies they invest in.
Module 03 / 04
Comparatives
That request is what made ESG a reporting discipline: comparable figures, framework-based disclosures, and — in UK SRS — only what could affect a company’s cash flows, access to finance or cost of capital, as UK SRS S1 puts it.
Module 04 / 04
Standard
The GRI Standards take the wider view, asking for an organisation’s most significant impacts on the economy, environment and people.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
ESG came out of the investment industry: Who Cares Wins was written by twenty financial institutions to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into analysis and asset management.
The Principles for Responsible Investment turned that into six investor commitments, including to seek appropriate disclosure on ESG issues from the companies they invest in.
That request is what made ESG a reporting discipline: comparable figures, framework-based disclosures, and — in UK SRS — only what could affect a company’s cash flows, access to finance or cost of capital, as UK SRS S1 puts it.
The GRI Standards take the wider view, asking for an organisation’s most significant impacts on the economy, environment and people.
How the ESG frameworks differ is set out on sustainability reporting frameworks, and the UK’s own standards on the UK SRS hub.
The differences
ESG vs CSR, side by side
What the company chooses to do
What a reader needs to know
ESG vs CSR, side by side
Audience
Public, employees, communities
Investors, lenders, regulators
Form
Narrative, company-chosen
Metrics and framework-based disclosure
Test for inclusion
Relevance to the company’s values
Materiality — financial (UK SRS) or impact (GRI)
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
| CSR | ESG | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting point | What the company chooses to do | What a reader needs to know |
| Audience | Public, employees, communities | Investors, lenders, regulators |
| Form | Narrative, company-chosen | Metrics and framework-based disclosure |
| Test for inclusion | Relevance to the company’s values | Materiality — financial (UK SRS) or impact (GRI) |
| Comparability | Low | Designed for it |
| UK legal hook | Statements the law asks for; honest claims | Specific reporting duties; UK SRS for listed companies from 2027 |
The two are complementary rather than opposed: a CSR programme is often exactly what an ESG metric then measures.
A diversity programme is CSR; the workforce figures it produces are ESG data.
What ESG measures, pillar by pillar, is on the ESG pillars.
Fictional example
A programme claim, with a defined denominator
A fictional company launches a diversity-learning programme and records12 participants out of 60 eligible employees in a workforce of 100.
| Question | What can be said | Evidence needed |
|---|---|---|
| CSR activity | The company launched the programme. | The policy, invitation and delivery record. |
| Participation metric | 20% of eligible employees participated: 12 ÷ 60. | A defined eligibility list and attendance record for the stated period. |
| Different denominator | 12% of the entire workforce participated: 12 ÷ 100. | The whole-workforce count; do not relabel this as eligible participation. |
| Financial materiality | Whether the information belongs in UK SRS depends on the materiality judgement. | Document the relevant risk or opportunity; the percentage alone does not decide. |
UK law
What UK law asks of CSR and of ESG
UK law uses neither word as a category, but it reaches both.
Legal routeRequirements and evidence
Module 01 / 04
Legal route
UK law uses neither word as a category, but it reaches both.
Module 02 / 04
Key point 02
For the largest companies it turns CSR into a statement: traded companies, banks and insurers with more than 500 employees describe their policies, due diligence and outcomes on the environment, employees, social matters, human rights and anti-bribery under section 414CB, or explain why they have no policy.
Module 03 / 04
Disclosure
The Modern Slavery Act asks for a yearly statement of the steps an organisation has taken on slavery in its supply chains — a CSR subject, required as a disclosure.
Module 04 / 04
Oversight
Directors must already have regard to employees, suppliers, the community and the environment under section 172(1), whatever the company calls its programme.
Claims are the risk
Since 6 April 2025 the CMA can enforce the unfair-trading rules directly under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, with penalties under section 182.
FCA-authorised firms also answer to the anti-greenwashing rule, in force since 31 May 2024.
Read the detailed guidance and evidence
UK law uses neither word as a category, but it reaches both.
For the largest companies it turns CSR into a statement: traded companies, banks and insurers with more than 500 employees describe their policies, due diligence and outcomes on the environment, employees, social matters, human rights and anti-bribery under section 414CB, or explain why they have no policy.
The Modern Slavery Act asks for a yearly statement of the steps an organisation has taken on slavery in its supply chains — a CSR subject, required as a disclosure.
Directors must already have regard to employees, suppliers, the community and the environment under section 172(1), whatever the company calls its programme.
On the ESG side, the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards are voluntary, and the FCA’s final rules make listed companies in scope report against them or explain, from 2027.
The full list of duties is on ESG reporting requirements UK.
Frequently asked
ESG vs CSR: frequently asked
What is the difference between ESG and CSR?
CSR, corporate social responsibility, is a company's own account of how it behaves responsibly — its commitments, programmes and values.
ESG is the investor's way of measuring the same ground: environmental, social and governance factors judged for their effect on risk and value, and reported against frameworks.
CSR starts from what the company chooses to do; ESG starts from what a reader needs to know.
Are CSR and ESG the same?
No, though they cover much of the same ground.
A CSR programme — a volunteering scheme, a responsible-sourcing policy — is an activity.
ESG reporting is the disclosure and measurement of risks and performance, including the results of such programmes, in terms an investor or regulator can compare.
Is ESG replacing CSR?
In corporate reporting, largely yes: the frameworks and the UK's standards are written in ESG and sustainability terms, not CSR terms.
CSR survives as the name many companies give to their own commitments and community work.
Is CSR mandatory in the UK?
CSR as such is not.
But parts of what companies call CSR are asked for by law: traded companies, banks and insurers with more than 500 employees describe their policies on the environment, employees, social matters, human rights and anti-bribery in the strategic report, and organisations with £36 million of turnover publish a modern slavery statement.
What is the difference between ESG reporting and sustainability reporting?
In UK practice, very little.
ESG reporting is the investor's term; sustainability reporting is the term the standards use, as in UK Sustainability Reporting Standards.
Both describe disclosure about environmental, social and governance matters; a GRI-based report emphasises impacts, a UK SRS report financial effects.
Can CSR claims break the law?
Yes, if they mislead.
Since 6 April 2025 the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 lets the CMA enforce the unfair-trading rules directly and impose penalties, which reaches misleading green claims to consumers.
FCA-authorised firms are also bound by the anti-greenwashing rule for claims about their products and services.
Prepare the evidence
ESG vs csr: from a requirement to a reporting pack
Use this preparation sequence alongside the detailed requirements on this page.
An editorial workflow, not a statutory schedule.
- Stage 0101
Duty map
List the legal, contractual and voluntary requirements that actually apply.
- Stage 0202
Reporting lens
Distinguish financial exposure from impacts and wider stakeholder questions.
- Stage 0303
Accountability
Give each disclosure a responsible owner and a review path.
- Stage 0404
Evidence record
Retain data boundaries, methods and source documents.
- Stage 0505
Framework connections
Reuse evidence where the underlying definitions and boundaries agree.
- Stage 0606
Publication checks
Review the report for unsupported claims, omissions and contradictory statements.
Read the applicable instrument: Who Cares Wins, December 2004
A practical brief
An evidence pack, with a clear review trail
Ask for a pack that lets the next reviewer retrace the scope decision, follow the evidence and understand the limitations.
This describes a useful handover; it does not certify compliance or establish that a vendor or adviser delivers it.
Trace the answerScope → evidence → review
Module 01 / 04
Applicability record
Write down the entity, reporting route and relevant period, including why the route applies.
Module 02 / 04
Evidence register
Attach each reported figure or statement to its source, method, version and limitations.
Module 03 / 04
Review trail
Name the preparer, reviewer, open questions and decisions taken before publication.
Module 04 / 04
Usable handover
Retain the working files and unresolved actions so the next reporting cycle can reuse the evidence.
View the preparation diagram
- Prepare01
Create the traceable pack
Keep the input records, calculation files and narrative together.
- Challenge02
Resolve questions before publication
Record the assumptions challenged and any limitations still unresolved.
- Retain03
Make the next cycle reproducible
Keep the approved version and the actions carried forward.
Illustrative example
Separate a voluntary programme from a metric
Imagine a company supporting a community programme and explaining it in an annual report.
A fictional preparation exercise, not a case study or a determination of compliance.
Follow the evidenceQuestion → record → answer
Module 01 / 04
CSR commitment
Describe the programme and what the company chose to do.
Module 02 / 04
Activity record
Retain records of the support actually provided.
Module 03 / 04
ESG question
Identify what a reader needs to assess about impacts or exposure.
Module 04 / 04
Reporting claim
Avoid turning the programme into an unsupported performance or compliance claim.
Before publication
Four questions, before the claim leaves the page
Use these questions to expose assumptions that a polished report can otherwise conceal.
Challenge the answerMake the limits visible
Module 01 / 04
Commitment
What did the company promise?
Module 02 / 04
Delivery
What did it actually do?
Module 03 / 04
Outcome
What can the evidence demonstrate about the result?
Module 04 / 04
Framework
Is any statement of framework compliance justified?
Continue your research
Related guides, one question at a time
Sources
Primary sources
Every figure, date and status on this page traces to the instrument’s owner.
Secondary commentary is never the source for a number.
Checked against 13 sources fromThe Global Compact (World Bank repository copy)PRIUN Global Compactlegislation.gov.ukFinancial Conduct AuthorityGRI
- The Global Compact (World Bank repository copy)Who Cares Wins, December 2004
Investment-industry recommendations that set out “environmental, social and governance issues”.
- PRIWhat are the Principles for Responsible Investment?
Six investor commitments on ESG issues.
- UN Global CompactThe Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact
Company responsibilities on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.
- legislation.gov.ukCompanies Act 2006, section 414CB(1)–(4)
Policies, due diligence and outcomes on five matters, or a reasoned explanation of why there is no policy.
- legislation.gov.ukCompanies Act 2006, section 172(1)
- legislation.gov.ukModern Slavery Act 2015, section 54
- legislation.gov.ukSI 2025/272, regulation 2 (DMCCA 2024 commencement)
Part 3 and Part 4 Chapter 1 (unfair trading) from 6 April 2025.
- legislation.gov.ukDigital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, section 182
The CMA’s direct-enforcement penalty.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityFCA Handbook ESG 4.3.1R — the anti-greenwashing rule
All authorised firms, from 31 May 2024.
- GRIGRI 1: Foundation 2021, section 2.2
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S1 and S2
Published 25 February 2026; voluntary for any entity.
- Department for Business and TradeUK SRS S1 (PDF), ¶3
Cash flows, access to finance or cost of capital.
- Financial Conduct AuthorityPS26/19: Aligning listed issuers' sustainability disclosures with international standards