Empowering Sustainable Leadership: A Comprehensive ESG Materiality Assessment for Industry Benchmarking and Global Compliance

The Challenge

An Ontario regulator sought our expertise to support them on their first steps in the Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) journey. The organization’s senior leadership team had identified a need for a framework that would guide future sustainability planning, prioritize various initiatives, and manage the organization’s risks effectively. Additionally, it was important to the organization that the selected framework align with both national and internal best practices, in addition to the needs and expectations of its stakeholder groups.

The Solution

Our professionals leveraged the analysis tool of our strategic partner, GreenWorks Environmental Partnership, which is designed to help organizations streamline their sustainability efforts. The team launched a comprehensive organization-wide ESG survey and analyzed internal data, centralizing all information using the GreenWorks tool. The GreenWorks tool then allowed for segmentation of expectations by different stakeholder groups, and comparisons of expectations and current reporting data against internationally accepted frameworks such as SASB, TCFD, GRI, and many others.

The findings were compiled into a Materiality Assessment Report, presented to key stakeholders, and included strategic recommendations along with an ESG implementation roadmap. Later on in the process, we were retained to support the organization with developing its final framework and reporting structure. This was tailor-made for the organization using aspects of different frameworks, to reflect the organization’s unique constraints and priorities. The engagement ultimately provided deep insights into the needs of the organization’s stakeholders, aligned their reporting structure with international standards, secured board and leadership support, and defined critical next steps in the organization’s ESG journey.

The Results

We conducted a comprehensive ESG Materiality Assessment for the regulator, delivering critical insights into ESG issues that informed the development of a reporting framework that was universally accepted by stakeholders. The assessment empowered the organization to benchmark its ESG practices against industry leaders. By aligning their proposed ESG goals with international standards, the organization ensured compliance with global best practices, enhancing its credibility in sustainability and leadership in its sector. The insights obtained from the ESG Materiality Assessment has since allowed the organization to identify key ESG issues, prioritize significant impacts and risks, and develop targeted strategies that contribute towards achieving their sustainability and corporate responsibility goals.