Besides being a regulatory requirement now, the concept of Double Materiality is a powerful tool for building resilient and sustainable businesses. Double Materiality Assessment (DMA) compels organizations to consider two key aspects: their impact on the environment and people (inside-out), and how environmental and social factors influence the company (outside-in).
For businesses required to report under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), understanding and conducting a double materiality assessment is a prerequisite. This assessment helps companies determine the most relevant themes for their sustainability reports, ensuring compliance with EFRAG (European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) guidelines.
While every company has a different path, based on our experience some core practices will make the Double Materiality Assessment (DMA) process smoother, more efficient, and more insightful.
1. Start Early
Conducting a Double Materiality Assessment takes time. It is not just a quick analysis but a thorough process that involves engaging with multiple stakeholders, gathering data, and assessing various impacts. If you leave it until the last minute, you will be scrambling to meet deadlines. Begin at least six months before your report is due.
2. Bring Internal Teams Onboard Early
For a Double Materiality Assessment to truly reflect the breadth of your business impacts, it is crucial to involve different departments right from the start. Sustainability teams alone won’t have the full picture. Finance, operations, HR, compliance, top management and the company board all have valuable perspectives to add.
3. Stakeholder Insights Are Everything
You cannot assess materiality in a vacuum. Stakeholder perspectives shape the issues you should focus on. Make sure to regularly engage with employees, customers, suppliers, and communities. Their views will often reveal blind spots you may not have considered. Engage at least 5 different stakeholders by interviewing, or through questionnaires and surveys.
4. Understand Industry-Specific Impacts
No two companies face the exact same sustainability challenges. For instance, a tech firm’s environmental footprint differs from a logistics company’s. Still, there are broad trends in every industry that will affect your business. It is therefore important to look beyond industry-wide risks and opportunities and assess how your company’s unique operations influence its specific sustainability profile.
5. Be Consistent with Your Scoring Methods
When assessing material issues, consistency is crucial. There are different ways to approach scoring: a numerical scale or a weighted ranking system. Whatever method you choose, use it consistently. The scoring needs to be transparent and easy to follow, both for internal teams and external auditors.
6. Document Everything from the Start
To conduct a DMA, proper documentation is necessary. This is not something to leave until the end. From day one, keep detailed notes on every step of the process – how decisions were made, what criteria were used, and which stakeholders were consulted.
Focus on Big-Picture Risks and Opportunities
At its core, the purpose of Double Materiality Assessment is to help companies understand their position within the broader sustainability landscape. It is about identifying not just the immediate risks, but also long-term opportunities. Your assessment should provide a comprehensive view of how sustainability issues impact your company today, and how they might shape your future. This forward-thinking approach enables companies to be proactive rather than reactive.
A tangible outcome of the Double Materiality Assessment process is the creation of an IRO table. This table details the key impacts, risks, and opportunities your business faces vis-à-vis sustainability. While the document may not be shared publicly, it is an invaluable tool for your internal strategy and can also be presented to auditors and trusted partners to ensure alignment.
Material issues change over time. A Double Materiality Assessment conducted last year might be outdated today. Review your assessment regularly. Keep it dynamic, adjusting to new risks, opportunities, and stakeholder feedback.
Putting it Altogether
Finally, how you communicate the DMA process is just as important as the process itself. Under the ESRS standards, you are required to provide a detailed process description. Make sure this is well written, without jargon, and highlights the key decisions and findings.
Conducting a Double Materiality Assessment is an opportunity to gain real insight into how sustainability challenges affect your business – and how your business affects the world. Based on our experience, by starting early, engaging the right teams, and documenting everything, you will ensure a successful DMA that provides a valuable roadmap for the future.
