Materiality Matrix
ESG Maturity In The Chemical Distribution Industry
To establish the ESG maturity of the growing Chemical Distribution market, Finch & Beak recently conducted a benchmarking study of 38 European companies. A comprehensive 25-page report provides valuable insights into what market leaders are doing, with best-case examples and elaborates on the main challenges of and opportunities in this evolving industry. This article summarizes the key takeaways of the extensive study.
May 30, 2022
Winning Sustainability Strategies Online Program: May-July 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 30 May 2022.
Making Sense of the Materiality Debate
Determining the most suitable materiality approach can at first seem confusing. However, asking relevant questions will assist you in choosing the best approach, process, and tools to ensure materiality forms the foundation for embedding ESG in your business strategy. In this article Germán Saenz, of Corporate Citizenship – part of SLR, suggests important questions to ask and provides guidance to help you make sense of the materiality debate.
Three Steps to Develop a Strong Climate Strategy
Companies are facing immense pressure to evolve their business strategy in view of climate change. Indeed, climate-related concerns have increased exponentially in recent years among investors and other stakeholders. Developing a climate strategy entails having a plan to mitigate the company’s impacts on climate change, as well to adapt to the new circumstances arising from climate change. This article outlines the compelling case for having a strong corporate climate strategy in place, and suggests three steps to develop such a strategy together with a downloadable checklist.
How to Activate the Topic of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Despite an increase in diversity policies and trainings offered by companies, organizations are still challenged to activate the topic of diversity and inclusion. This is because current strategies prioritize raising awareness over tangible action. In order to activate the topic of diversity and inclusion, if found to be a material topic for your company, diversity policies & trainings need to go hand in hand with inclusive, hands-on practices.
ESG Machete: Comparing Suitable ESG Data for Your Board
Spurred by regulation and investor interest, more companies than ever are reporting on core ESG topics by publishing integrated or separate corporate sustainability reports. Simultaneously, more than $1tn in total assets under management in funds are now abiding by ESG principles, and legislation is catching up. While investors and policy makers are becoming stronger advocates for ESG disclosure, companies struggle to strike the right balance between efforts and results. But how to make sure the right ESG ratings and performance analysis are used to inform senior management?
Tackling the Challenges in Visualizing Double Materiality
As of 2023, the EU Commission requires companies to apply the concept of “Double Materiality” as part of its new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Companies that have not already done this, need to develop a sharp view on both short-term impacts as well as risks further on the horizon in order to guide their business and build resilience for climate change and other factors. In addition, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) announced updates towards its Standards in which also the process towards a materiality assessment was actively addressed. One of the main questions that therefore arises is: how do you visualize your materiality matrix in line with the double materiality principle?
How to Connect ESG Metrics to Your Executives' Remuneration
Be it under the pressure of stakeholders or to showcase commitment to sustainable business practices, an increasing number of companies have linked Economic, Social and Governance (ESG) metrics to their executive remuneration. While this is a valuable strategy to accelerate sustainability performance, doing so may present several challenges in the process from decision making to implementation. This article outlines the considerations to account for in the process and provides three tips for a successful integration of ESG targets in executive remuneration.
Updated GRI Standards: What Are the Implications for Materiality?
Last October, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) announced the biggest update of its standards since 2016. Beyond legal requirements, the GRI has been identified as one of the most comprehensive and internationally recognized sustainability standards setter for corporate reporting. Scheduled to be applicable by 2023, these changes require companies to increase their level of transparency and to dedicate further resources into non-financial reporting. One of the key updates is the introduction of sector standards, providing additional guidelines for comparability of companies from the same industries. Another important change in the GRI Universal Standards is the revised approach on how organization should conduct their materiality assessment. This article focuses on the proposed changes and what it means for companies which have selected the GRI Standards as their ESG reporting framework.
