Materiality Assessment – what really matters
Would you like to find out which sustainability matters are truly material to your company? We support you in carrying out a materiality assessment that is compliant with the most important standards, taking into account both internal and external perspectives. Our goal is to meet you where you are, that means – wherever possible – we adapt the methodology described for conducting a materiality assessment in accordance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) to your individual circumstances and needs. We also support you in preparing a sustainability report following the guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) or the German Sustainability Code (DNK) with the requirements formulated therein for a materiality assessment.
Our services at a glance
Preparation
mapping and IRO inventory
Internal perspective
validation and valuation
External perspective
survey of relevant stakeholders or continuous stakeholder engagement
Evaluation
consolidation, prioritisation through threshold values, communicative preparation, input into gap analysis
What’s behind it
Which sustainability matters are material for your business or organisation? More and more standards are requiring a materiality assessment to determine this. The European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), adopted in July 2023, affects numerous companies that have yet to prepare a sustainability report yet, outlines detailed requirements.
In line with the principle of double materiality, positive and negative physical impacts as well as financial opportunities and risks – summarised as IROs (impacts, risks, opportunities) – must be identified and assessed. This concerns sustainability matters such as climate change, environmental pollution, labour conditions or anti-corruption, both in the company’s own business operations and value chain.
The internal perspective
In the internal perspective we offer a multi-level approach: The ESRS lists sustainability matters that the reporting entity must reflect on in terms of impacts, opportunities, and risks. Based on our IRO database, we create an IRO inventory customized to industries and companies we collaborate with. We then support you to evaluate the IROs. This also requires the expertise of your specialist departments. Before, we develop an ESRS-compliant assessment method that considers the magnitude, scope and likelihood of actual and potential impacts, as well as the scope and likelihood of opportunities and risks. Risk assessment methods you have already established are incorporated into the assessment method.
The external perspective
The external perspective on key sustainability matters is obtained by surveying relevant stakeholders. The type of survey, which we will decide together, depends on the number of stakeholders involved and the desired level of detail. If available, we may also utilize industry-specific surveys.
Have you already implemented continuous stakeholder engagement? If so, we will assess its conformity with the ESRS sustainability matters and evaluate the findings.
What is material?
We then summarise both perspectives in the IRO inventory, and, by applying jointly defined threshold values, determine the material sustainability matters that need to be reported on.
What happens next?
We transfer the results of the materiality assessment into our ESRS compliance tool to conduct a gap analysis that demonstrates your current level of compliance with reporting obligations and what steps to take. The analysis forms the starting point for a roadmap to achieve CSRD compliance. This includes reviewing and updating your sustainability strategy and management as needed.
