my bank wants me to complete an ESG questionnaire what should I do

A bank questionnaire follows the same path as any other

A sustainability questionnaire from a bank is subject to the same supply chain requirements as a questionnaire from a large customer. Banks themselves are also subject to the reporting obligation under the CSRD (Directive (EU) 2022/2464), and to prepare their own reporting they request information from companies to which they extend credit. This is normal practice, but it does not mean that every question the bank asks is automatically permitted to be asked. Here too: can my client ask all the sustainability questions he wants is a question with a concrete answer, and that answer does not change because the sender is a bank rather than a supplier further up the chain.

The practical approach is the same as with any other questionnaire: first determine which questions fall within the VSME Standard and which fall outside it, then answer the remaining questions using documents that already exist. An energy bill, fuel receipts, a printout from payroll administration — this is usually sufficient to cover most of a bank questionnaire. Anyone who is not yet sure what that first review does exactly can read about it at what exactly is esgia's capcheck.

Where this comes from: the CSRD and the VSME base module

The CSRD (Directive (EU) 2022/2464) requires large companies, including banks, to report on their supply chain — and the amendment of March 2026 limits what they may ask of smaller suppliers or borrowers for that purpose. The EFRAG VSME Standard describes the base module that serves as an upper limit for unlisted SMEs. Questions about energy consumption or emissions typically follow the scope 1, 2 and 3 classification from the GHG Protocol; which scope is read from which source depends on the question itself.