Materiality assessment is the basis for the company's sustainability strategy. A solid materiality analysis will help you understand the importance of different sustainability issues in your business.
The purpose of the exercise is to include the most relevant ESG (environmental, social and governance) aspects of your business. You may choose to start with a purely environmental materiality assessment, but social aspects related to employees, human rights, and community relations should not be overlooked. Some industries are characterised by strong governance (e.g. anti-corruption, anti-bribery, data protection, etc.), which should also be covered.
The materiality assessment is commonly visualised in a materiality matrix, which shows the importance of sustainability impacts to your business (profit) on one axis and the importance of your business impacts to stakeholders (people & planet) on the other. Here are some examples of materiality matrices.
- FINANCIAL MATERIALITY (OUTSIDE IN) - Identify topics that will impact your business' ability to create value over time, which may depend on natural resources, a reliable supply chain or other issues relevant to the industry, region, and business context.
- IMPACT MATERIALITY (INSIDE OUT) - Consider the impact that your business activities have on the environment and society, and their importance to your stakeholders.
Understand from reporting companies with similar activities what is most material in your industry, and consider SASB's recommended topics for your industry.
Not all topics can be covered when you're first beginning your sustainability journey. With the right focus and simplified methodology, you can actually capture the small essence of the issues that are most material to the business. However, it is important to document the non-prioritised issues and the reasons for not including them, to justify your decisions and use them for future reassessment. SMEs need to narrow the scope and prioritise a smaller set of materiality issues in order to measure, manage and communicate their sustainability efforts.
Suppose you are a subsidiary of a multinational company. In this case, you should understand the group's sustainability strategy and objectives, and clarify the scope of influence and control that corresponds to your region.
71%
of companies identify material ESG topics
(KPMG survey's N100 companies)
80% of Fortune 500 companies
use materiality in their reporting
(Brightest)
- Simplified version of materiality assessment
- Useful information from GRI on materiality assessment: GRI 3 "Material topics 2021"
SustainableSG was started in September 2018 to accompany companies, non-profit entities and government agencies to review and implement effective and sustainable corporate strategies. Our services include:
Sustainao supports companies in their sustainability journey by building an impactful strategy, embedding sustainable practices across operations, and reporting performance to stakeholders.
Our sustainability consulting services are designed in a continuous improvement process:
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ACTIVATE - DESIGN - ACCELERATE. Our expert consulting services and trainings help business leaders understand the complexities of sustainability, consider climate- and nature-related risks and opportunities to make informed decisions and alleviate the administrative burdens of:
We work directly with SMEs or collaborate with other sustainability consulting companies on specific projects. We are actively involved in networks of sustainability professionals who share knowledge with public and educate other professionals to bring awareness and accelerate the transition in Singapore and worldwide (incl. The Matcha Initiative, Climate Fresk, etc.).
Our unique strength stems from understanding sustainability from the risk management perspective, creating a business case and using financial reasoning to adopt sustainable business practices and decarbonize.
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Walk The Talk is a boutique consultancy working with businesses, financial institutions (agnostic of sector and size) and multi-stakeholder organisations to deploy circular business models, create and manage impact and contribute to a regenerative economy.
We support organisations across the sustainability, impact and climate action lifecycle from ideation to execution and offer services related to: ESG & Financial Advisory, Impact and Value Creation, Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting, and Systems Convening.
