Preparing your organisation for CSRD through strategic scenario planning: Sample scenarios

This page offers three sample scenarios to support your use of the CSRD scenario planning tool. Each scenario explores a high-risk challenge organisations may face when navigating CSRD compliance, with descriptive titles to help you recognise similar patterns in your own context. They are designed to spark reflection, guide strategic conversations, and support inclusive, forward-looking decision-making.

• In these scenarios, Steps 1–2 of the CSRD scenario planning tool — focused on identifying key stakeholders and setting conversation ground rules — have already be completed.
• The three scenarios are structured around Steps 3-6 of the CSRD scenario planning tool, helping you identify high-risk challenges and explore their implications.
• A case study follows the samples to show how scenario planning can be applied in real-world settings to address ethical risks and strengthen organisational resilience.
• Next, you’ll find an illustration of Steps 7–9, which guide you through external forces, assumptions, and backcasting to define your organisation’s desired and worst-case future states.
• Step 10, creating an action plan, is not illustrated because it is organisation-dependent.

How to cite: Smith, E. & Penda, V. (2025). Preparing your organisation for CSRD through strategic scenario planning: Sample scenarios. Catalyst.