Double Materiality

Decide what actually belongs in your sustainability strategy and plan. Based on evidence, not instinct. Build the foundation that makes everything else credible.

The most overlooked step in sustainability strategy development and ESG reporting. Get it right and your strategy is focused, impactful and defensible. Skip it and you risk low or negative ROI, green washing accusations, or under-disclosing what investors, regulators and supply chain partners actually want to see.

The two lenses of materiality

Impact materiality
Your company’s actual and potential impacts on people and the planet; positive and negative, intended and unintended, across your own operations and wider value chain.

Examples: GHG emissions, virgin material use, biodiversity impacts, worker welfare, job creation.

Financial materiality
How sustainability topics affect your financial position, performance and cash flows; now and longer term. The same territory as IFRS S1/S2 and UK SRS.

Examples: Regulation such as Extended Producer Responsibility, stranded assets, supply chain disruption and cost increases

Topics that are material on either angle belong in your strategy and disclosures. Topics that are not material on either can be set aside, with a clear record of why.

Materiality process options

Internal assessment
A pragmatic, facilitated assessment that identifies your top material topics quickly. A combination of colleague engagement and desktop research: sufficient to anchor a first sustainability strategy or report.

Sector and size calibrated topic list
Desktop impact & financial review
Key colleague workshop
Prioritised materiality matrix

Full double materiality process
A rigorous, documented Double Materiality Assessment aligned to CSRD / GRI requirements. Including stakeholder engagement, impact / risk / opportunity mapping and a defensible audit trail.

Impact, risk & opportunity (IRO) mapping
Stakeholder engagement design
Severity & likelihood scoring
Materiality matrix, statement & audit trail

Embedded materiality processes
Materiality assessment integrated into your wider business processes, particularly in stakeholder engagement. Formal review and ad hoc consideration of regulatory changes, climate, market and community events.

Annual review process
Stakeholder engagement processes
Board materiality sign-off protocol
Integration with strategy cycle

How we work

01
Topic list / universe
Establish the full list of sustainability topics relevant to your sector, size and value chain

02
Impacts, risks and opportunities
Map impacts, risks and opportunities by topic across operations, upstream and downstream

03
Scoring and engagement
Score severity, likelihood and significance of external impacts and financial consequences; validate with key stakeholders

04
Outputs and sign off
Produce materiality matrix, statement and disclosure scope map for board approval.