ESG
Double Materiality as the Foundation for Sustainability Strategy
For organizations to remain competitive, embedding ESG in their business strategies is imperative. As a first step in strategy-making usually entails analyzing and understanding the organization’s inside and outside contexts, a double materiality assessment is a great tool to help organizations consider the impacts of both of these. On top of the assessment being foundational for integrating ESG in organizational strategies, it will be required as part of the EU approved Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). In this article, we discuss the importance of considering materiality as a starting point for your strategy, elaborate on other strategy building blocks, and provide tips and practical guidance for a successful double materiality assessment.
Great Reasons for Planning Ahead for DJSI Season
To be well prepared for the upcoming Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) season, it is recommendable to take a forward-looking approach and start the preparation phase early. This article summarizes the benefits of preparing early for S&P Global's Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) participation, suggests where to start, and what can be learned from a company that successfully increased its score due to early preparation in 2022.
Understanding and Preparing for the Newly Adopted EU CSRD
On 28 November 2022, the European Council approved the proposed Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which aims to revolutionize sustainable reporting and parallel it with financial reporting. The Directive replaces the existing Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) and will substantially increase reporting requirements for companies falling within its scope. This article addresses uncertainties about scope, timelines, and implications for business by providing clarification about the CSRD’s requirements as well as giving practical recommendations to prepare for compliance in 2023 and beyond.
Engaging Stakeholders to Accelerate ESG Performance
Engaging stakeholders is essential for companies to build a strong strategy, meet ESG (environmental, social, and governance) commitments and scale their impact. However, successfully collaborating with stakeholders to achieve these outcomes brings other challenges. In this article, we outline the case for, and provide three tips on stakeholder engagement to accelerate ESG performance. More specifically, we consider how materiality assessments can facilitate and enhance the process of stakeholder engagement. For more practical insights, the download provides three tips on how companies can engage their stakeholders while conducting their materiality assessment.
Materiality Activation in the European Fashion Industry
As the need for increased focus on human rights issues and responsible supply chain management grows across industries, the upcoming EU Directive on corporate sustainable due diligence, published in 2022, will require organizations to provide consumers with more transparency when purchasing goods. This article elaborates on the implications for European companies, considers the environmental and social concerns that the fashion industry is facing, highlights inspiring progress by sustainable pioneers in the sector and then makes the case for human rights and supply chain management as foundational materiality topics and crucial elements for ESG acceleration. The downloadable checklist for materiality activation gives three tips to help your organization determine material issues.
Tips & Tricks for a Strategic Approach to the CSA in 2023
As part of Finch & Beak’s CSA Training for ESG Teams webinar we provided insights on structuring your organization’s ESG governance and turning your ESG ratings into a sustainability program accelerator. This article summarizes the event takeaways delivered by our speakers Nikkie Vinke, Team Lead ESG Benchmarking at Finch & Beak, and Catalina Hemmink, Sustainability Reporting Specialist at ABN AMRO. The download provides you with three tips to tackle the CSA in 2023.
Design and accelerate your company's sustainability transformation
Winning Sustainability Strategies Online Program: 7 Nov - 11 Dec 2022
The IMD Winning Sustainability Strategies Online Program is a “how-to” guide that offers a very pragmatic take on how to integrate sustainability in your corporate strategy – while ensuring it has a strong business case. The program is aimed at business executives, strategy practitioners and sustainability professionals, who are looking to harness sustainability innovation and its strategic implications. Facilitated by the authors Jan van der Kaaij, Managing Partner of Finch & Beak, and IMD professor Benoit Leleux, this edition starts on 7 November 2022 and registration closes 31 October 2022.
ESG Benchmarks Under Regulatory Scrutiny in Europe
ESG benchmarks and ratings are valuable tools to assist organizations in understanding their own ESG performance and its position relative to peers, and enabling to share insights with interested (financial) stakeholders. One of the key findings of Finch & Beak's most recent ESG Market Survey highlights a need for streamlining, with the average company responding to four benchmarks. Regulators are now also starting to take note of the firm growth of the ESG benchmarking market. As the number of ESG ratings keeps growing, it can be challenging to determine which benchmarks and ratings your organization should respond to. This article sheds some light on these developments, and suggests three tips for maximizing your organization’s efficiency towards ESG ratings. The downloadable 2022 ESG Rankings Cheat Sheet provides practical advice on what to look for and how to determine relevance.
Successfully Implementing TCFD: Risk & Opportunity Analysis
This article is the first article in our series titled 'Successfully Implementing TCFD', explaining the different phases of Finch & Beak's Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Roadmap in more detail. This article focuses on the suggested phase of conducting a climate-related risk and opportunity assessment by sharing valuable insights on how to assess and understand climate-related risks and opportunities. The accompanying download provides practical tips to assist your organization in overcoming three barriers that can prevent the successful implementation of TCFD.
Ensuring a strategic approach towards DJSI inclusion
