Is ESG reporting mandatory in Switzerland?
Is ESG reporting mandatory in Switzerland?
Yes, ESG reporting is mandatory in Switzerland for certain organisations, under specific size and activity thresholds.
Large publicly listed companies, banks and insurers with at least 500 employees, and meeting defined financial criteria, are required to publish annual non-financial and climate-related reports. These reports must be approved at board level and made publicly available.
Today, ESG reports are no longer internal documents. Once published, they become public reference materials that may be consulted, compared and scrutinised for many years.
ESG reporting can become a communication risk if poorly designed
For ESG teams, publishing accurate data is no longer sufficient.
Once published, ESG reports become long-term public documents, reviewed by regulators, auditors, investors, NGOs and the media. How information is structured and visually presented continues to influence how it is interpreted, often well beyond the original reporting cycle.
For many Swiss ESG teams, the first months of the year mark a transition:
- data collection and validation are largely complete
- internal reviews are finalised
- reports move toward publication
This is precisely when communication decisions carry the most weight. At this stage, design choices can either reinforce clarity and coherence or introduce ambiguity and risk.
Sustainable graphic design for ESG reports
Today, ESG reports are assessed not only on data accuracy, but also on how clearly information is communicated to non-specialist audiences.
From a communication standpoint, making key ESG information easy to locate, read and interpret becomes part of the organisation’s responsibility. Poorly structured layouts, unclear visual hierarchies or excessive emphasis can increase the risk of misinterpretation even when the underlying data is robust.
In sustainability contexts, graphic design operates under different constraints than traditional marketing or branding projects. Not all graphic designers are well versed in the constraints linked to the ESG and sustainability sector in Switzerland.
However, sustainable graphic design, my speciality, takes those constraints into consideration, helping ESG reports remain clear, defensible, and less exposed to accusations of greenwashing.
What sustainable graphic design contributes to ESG reporting
Sustainable graphic design does not define ESG strategy, validate data or ensure regulatory compliance. Once content is fixed, it supports ESG teams by:
- structuring complex information into logical, readable flows
- improving accessibility for non-specialist stakeholders
- aligning visual emphasis with the level of certainty in the data
- avoiding decorative elements that add noise or confusion
- designing formats suitable for long-term reference and reuse
- recommending certified and lower-impact communication materials for print and digital use
In short, it supports decision-ready information, not persuasion.
What sustainable graphic design does not do
To be clear, sustainable graphic design is not:
- a substitute for ESG governance
- a guarantee of regulatory compliance
- proof of environmental or social performance
- a way to “make” a report’s content sustainable
Its role is limited to reducing communication risk by aligning structure, visuals and tone with the underlying data.
Final thoughts
As ESG reporting becomes more standardised and comparable, communication choices increasingly shape how information is read, questioned and challenged.
When your next ESG report is reviewed — not only by experts, but also by external stakeholders — will its structure and presentation help your data be understood as intended, or leave room for misinterpretation?
Would you like to see an example of an ESG report I designed?
