Why now
Spend-based factors no longer survive assurance.
ESRS E1 (climate) is pushing companies off industry averages and toward primary data particularly for Scope 3 Category 1 (purchased goods and services), where agricultural inputs sit. SBTi FLAG deadlines are now within 24 months for many of you, and FLAG inventories require primary data on a substantial share of your land-sector emissions.
ESRS E4 (biodiversity) demand the same. Spend-based estimates and database averages won't survive limited assurance, let alone reasonable assurance.
And the EU Green Claims Directive raises the cost of imprecise environmental claims further: any "low-carbon," "climate-friendly," or "sustainable" claim about an agricultural input now needs primary evidence behind it.
