Double materiality assessment
Double materiality assessment is the starting point for defining the focus and boundaries of your ESG strategy and reporting, and ensuring compliance with EU regulations like the CSRD.
Your ESG initiatives should prioritize what truly matters. This involves identifying the impact areas on nature and people caused by business activities, sustainability risks, and opportunities for the financial success of your business.
What companies need the double materiality assessment?
Large Companies
All large companies (meeting at least two of the following at the consolidation group level: 250+ employees, €50+ million net turnover, €25+ million total assets) and all companies listed on regulated markets in the EU (except micro) – a regulatory requirement from CSRD.
SMEs
SMEs that can benefit and gain an advantage from proving a proper ESG management approach to their B2B clients, value chain partners, banks, and investors.
Proactive Organizations
All companies that want to allocate resources for ESG in a thoughtful, efficient, and purposeful way instead of wasting time and money dealing with unnecessary sustainability issues.
3 ways we can help you with
double materiality assessment:
Leading complete assessment project
driving the process, coordinating stakeholder engagement, conducting impact assessment, guiding financial risk and opportunity assessment, conducting meetings and workshops, and formulating final outcomes.
Supporting your internal team in conducting the assessment
acting as a mentor, advisor, and external expert to help you set up proper process and methodology, providing our templates and scoring models, directing you to relevant resources, reviewing and providing feedback on your outcomes.
Training your people on how to perform the assessment
delivering one longer generic or series of specific training events for your management team or ESG team to prepare you for running the assessment on your own (sharing tips and tricks we have gained about applying the methodology and process).
Our double materiality assessment methodology follows
Requirements and principles of European Sustainability Reporting Standard (ESRS)
EFRAG guidelines for double materiality assessment
Sustinere`s scoring model and worksheet templates for assessing the impact and financial materiality of each ESG topic
The process of double materiality assessment is divided into three main stages:
Understanding the context and scope of the assessment
Outcome: your team knows why and how broad the assessment will be considering the value chain of your company, which information is needed as an input, which stakeholders and how they should be engaged.
Identification of the list of potential material sustainability matters
Outcome: shortlist of likely relevant ESG topics (based on a full list of topics provided by ESRS) to be used in further assessment.
Materiality assessment from two perspectives – impact and financial materiality
Outcome: materiality map with scores and explanations about the severity and likelihood of identified impacts, risks, and opportunities of each topic.
Materiality assessment outside the scope of CSRD
For companies not required to comply with CSRD but still looking to enhance their sustainability efforts, we offer a lighter version of the assessment. This streamlined service provides valuable insights into the most relevant environmental, social, and governance issues for your business, helping you prioritize actions and communicate your commitments effectively without the complexity of full regulatory compliance.
The assessment is done based on inputs gathered through internal and external stakeholder engagement, review of available materials, interviews with management team members, meetings and workshops for your working group. Our experts base their evaluations on industry standards and scientific materials.
Once the double materiality assessment is done, a strategy on how material ESG aspects could be integrated into your business strategy should be created. At the same time, disclosure points for reporting with identified gaps in complying to the requirements of the EU’s ESG reporting standard should be identified.
Why partner with Sustinere?
Focus on what you do best while we handle the complexities of ESG assessments. The ESRS requirements and EFRAG guidelines are intricate. So by outsourcing the first assessment to us, you ensure nothing is overlooked.
When you consider the time you and your team would spend learning, preparing, and conducting the assessment, bringing in skilled experts like us most of the time more cost-effective. Rest assured, your team will still play a vital role in the process.
In the past 1.5 years alone, we’ve completed over 20 ESRS-compliant double materiality assessments, working with listed companies, state-owned enterprises, cross-border operations, and large local firms — likely including organizations in your industry. We apply this wealth of experience to ensure an efficient process and tangible outcomes.
While you could explore various one-click digital solutions, our dedicated team is here to engage with you directly. We speak your language and are always ready to answer all questions. Our experts aren’t generalists — they hold MSc and PhD degrees with specialized knowledge in environmental and social issues. Your industry insights and our expertise will make a dream team.
