C1: Strategy: business model and sustainability initiatives
What you sell, to whom, with whom, and how sustainability fits your strategy.
In brief
C1 describes your business model and strategy. You describe your significant groups of products and services, the markets you operate in, and your main business relationships, such as key suppliers, customers and distribution channels. If your strategy has key elements that relate to or affect sustainability, you describe them briefly too. A few factual sentences per item are enough.
At a glance
- Requirement
- Essential: products and services, markets and business relationships. Strategy elements if your strategy relates to sustainability.
- 10 employees or less
- Voluntary.
- Value chain cap (from 2027)
- Products and services, markets and business relationships, for companies with more than 10 employees.
- In Selko Report
- Page "Strategy & Business Model"
What changed from VSME
- Changed: products and services, markets and business relationships are essential for companies with more than 10 employees. Under VSME, every Comprehensive Module disclosure was "if applicable".
- New: voluntary for companies with 10 employees or less.
- EFRAG's guidance asks you to include, under business relationships, the estimated number of suppliers and their sectors and countries.
VS Standard Reference
The official text of the Voluntary Standard, Annex I to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/1560.
Selko Insights
How Selko applies it
Four short descriptions
Selko Report asks for each item separately: products and services, markets, main business relationships and, if relevant, the sustainability elements of your strategy. A short, factual description is enough: what you sell, who buys it and where, and who you work with.
Name your key suppliers by number, sector and country
EFRAG's guidance asks for the estimated number of suppliers and their sectors and countries. We recommend adding these to your description of business relationships, for example: "around 40 regular suppliers, mainly building materials and logistics, in Finland and Sweden".
Put informal sustainability work into words
Many SMEs work on sustainability through daily practices and values without a written strategy. C1 is a good place to summarize this in a few sentences: what you focus on and why. Writing it down also gives a basis for more structured work later.
Frequently asked questions
Related content
B1: Basis for preparation
VS disclosure B1: the option you apply, the statement of compliance, omitted information, reporting basis, subsidiaries, company details, sites and certifications.
Read moreC2: Description of practices, policies and future initiatives
VS disclosure C2: describe the practices, policies and future initiatives reported in B2, whether they cover suppliers or clients, and the targets that monitor them.
Read moreC3: GHG reduction targets and climate transition
VS disclosure C3: how to disclose GHG reduction targets, which sectors count as high climate impact, and what to say about a climate transition plan.
Read moreWho is the VS for?
The VS is for companies outside the CSRD, intended for those with up to 1,000 employees. Who uses it, why, and how the value chain cap limits data requests.
Read moreReady to make progress?
Let's discuss how Selko Insights can help your organization turn sustainability goals into practical action.