- ESG Materiality & Strategy
ESG Materiality Assessment and Double Materiality Services
An ESG materiality assessment finds the ESG issues that matter most to your business and your stakeholders, then turns them into a clear strategy, goals and KPIs. Consultivo runs practical, standards-aligned materiality assessments for companies reporting under GRI, ISSB, ESRS and BRSR.
ESG Materiality Assessment and ESG Strategy Development
An ESG materiality assessment tells you which environmental, social and governance topics are material to your business, the ones worth measuring, managing and disclosing. We identify those topics, test them with your stakeholders, plot them on a materiality matrix, and hand you a ranked, defensible list. Then we help you act on it: policy, strategy, goals and KPIs aligned to your business priorities.
Two connected services, delivered together or on their own.
Sustainability and ESG Materiality Assessment
We identify and prioritise the ESG issues that matter most to your business and stakeholders, using single or double materiality as your reporting framework requires. You receive a stakeholder-tested materiality matrix and a clear register of material topics, ready for GRI, ISSB, ESRS or BRSR disclosure.
ESG Strategy Development
A material topic list is only useful if it drives action. We turn your material issues into an ESG strategy: clear goals, measurable KPIs, an ESG policy and a roadmap your teams can actually deliver. Ambition becomes a plan.
Why Consultivo for Your Materiality Assessment
We are a practical solution provider, not a theory shop. We understand how materiality is defined across every major global standard, and we run the assessment as a working project that ends in decisions, not a slide deck.
- AA1000 Licensed Assurance Provider. We know what an assessor looks for, so your assessment stands up to scrutiny.
- Global, multi-standard experience. GRI, ISSB (IFRS S1 and S2), CSRD and ESRS, and India's SEBI BRSR, one team, one method, fluent across all of them.
- Extensive materiality experience in real operating conditions, across 15+ industry sectors.
- IFC-approved vendor in ESG consulting domain and a recognised knowledge partner to CII and ICC.
- Independent. We carry no product or audit conflict, so the material topics we surface are the ones that matter to you, not to us.
Materiality Across Global Standards and Frameworks
Different reporting standards define materiality in different ways. Getting this right is the difference between a disclosure that passes assurance and one that does not. Here is how the four that matter to most companies treat it, and where we fit each.
GRI Standards, Impact Materiality (inside-out)
The Global Reporting Initiative looks at how your organisation affects the economy, the environment and people. GRI 3: Material Topics (2021) is the global benchmark for this stakeholder-driven, impact-first process. If you report to GRI, materiality means your impact on the world.
Primary source: Global Reporting Initiative, GRI 3.
ISSB, IFRS S1 and S2, Financial Materiality (outside-in)
The International Sustainability Standards Board takes an investor-focused view. Issued in June 2023 and effective for annual periods from 1 January 2024, IFRS S1 (general requirements) and IFRS S2 (climate) ask which sustainability risks and opportunities could reasonably affect enterprise value and investor decisions. Here, materiality means the world's effect on your finances.
Primary source: IFRS Foundation, ISSB IFRS S1 and S2.
CSRD and ESRS, Double Materiality
The European Sustainability Reporting Standards, under the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, require double materiality: you assess impact materiality and financial materiality together. A topic is material if it is significant from either perspective. This is the most complete view, and it is becoming the global reference point.
Primary source: EFRAG, ESRS.
SEBI BRSR, India's Mandatory Framework
In India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) mandates Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR). It has been mandatory since FY 2022-23 for the top 1,000 listed companies by market capitalisation. A materiality assessment is a compulsory part of BRSR, and the BRSR Core subset carries a phased assessment-or-assurance requirement: top 150 companies from FY 2023-24, top 250 from FY 2024-25, top 500 from FY 2025-26, and all top 1,000 from FY 2026-27.
If you report under BRSR, your materiality assessment must stand up to independent assessment or reasonable assurance. We build it to that standard from the start. You can explore our brsr reporting services for the full disclosure journey.
Primary source: SEBI BRSR framework and the 28 March 2025 circular.
Double Materiality Explained
Double materiality is the idea that two questions must be answered about every ESG topic, not one.
Impact materiality (inside-out)
How does your business affect people and the environment? This is the question GRI puts first, and the impact half of ESRS double materiality.
Financial materiality (outside-in)
How do sustainability issues affect your business, its costs, risks and value? This is the ISSB lens, and the financial half of ESRS double materiality.
A topic is doubly material if it is significant from either perspective, or both. Traditional assessments asked only the financial question. Double materiality, required by ESRS and increasingly expected by investors and regulators worldwide, asks both. It gives you a complete picture: your effect on the world, and the world's effect on you. We run double materiality assessments end to end, from stakeholder engagement and scoring to the matrix and a board-ready set of material topics, with the reasoning recorded for assurance. For the underlying materiality concepts, see our explainer.
ESG Strategy, Goals and KPIs
A material topic list is the start, not the finish. ESG strategy development turns your material issues into a plan the business can act on: a clear ESG policy, defined goals, measurable KPIs and a delivery roadmap tied to your business priorities. This is how a materiality assessment becomes performance.
ESG policy and ambition
We translate your material topics into an ESG policy and a level of ambition that fits your sector, your stakeholders and your regulatory obligations.
Goals and targets
We set clear, time-bound goals for each priority topic, aligned to recognised frameworks and, where relevant, to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Measurable KPIs
We define the ESG KPIs that let you track progress and report credibly, so every goal has a number behind it and an owner accountable for it.
Roadmap and integration
We build a practical roadmap that embeds ESG into strategy, operations and reporting, and revisit it as your business and the standards evolve.
Material topics, clear goals, measurable KPIs, and a plan to deliver them. Ambition becomes reality.
Our ESG Materiality Assessment Process
A materiality assessment is the essential first step in any ESG journey. Here is how we run it, as a working project with a clear output at each stage.
Scope and context
We map your business, sector, value chain and the standard you report to (GRI, ISSB, ESRS or BRSR), so the assessment fits your obligations from day one.
Identify the topics
We build a long list of candidate ESG topics from the standards, peer benchmarking and your operating reality.
Engage your stakeholders
We run structured stakeholder surveys and interviews, internal and external, to score each topic. This is where materiality is earned, not assumed.
Score and plot
We convert responses into impact and financial scores and plot them on a materiality matrix, banded into high, medium and low priority.
Leadership and board validation
Your leadership team and board validate the material topics from a business-risk perspective, testing the survey result against policy, practice and performance. Topics may be raised or moderated based on strategic risk and impact the survey alone cannot see. Every adjustment is recorded with its rationale, so the final matrix is defensible under assurance.
Calibrate and confirm
We finalise the banded materiality matrix, high, medium and low, reflecting both the stakeholder survey and the board's validation, and confirm the material topic register for disclosure.
Strategy, goals and KPIs
We turn the material topics into an ESG strategy: policy, goals, KPIs and a delivery roadmap.
Impact Stories: ESG Materiality Assessment in Action
We have run ESG materiality assessments across very different sectors, each with its own risks, stakeholders and material issues. Three examples show how the same rigorous method adapts to the business in front of it.
From ESG Issues to Strategic Priorities
Consultivo conducted an ESG materiality assessment to identify and prioritise the sustainability issues most relevant to a leading steel processing and manufacturing company's operations, stakeholders and long-term business priorities. The assessment brought sector-specific ESG considerations together with stakeholder expectations to establish a focused materiality agenda.
Result: a prioritised set of material ESG issues, giving a clear foundation for ESG strategy, target-setting and sustainability reporting.
Bringing ESG Priorities into Focus for an Agribusiness
Consultivo assessed the ESG issues most significant to a leading agribusiness enterprise and its stakeholders, with particular attention to climate, natural resources, biodiversity, responsible agricultural practices, workforce, communities and supply-chain sustainability.
Result: a sector-specific materiality framework that aligned environmental, social and business priorities with stakeholder expectations and long-term resilience.
Prioritising ESG Issues Across Infrastructure and Utilities
Consultivo undertook an ESG materiality assessment to evaluate and prioritise issues across a major infrastructure and utilities company's operations, assets and stakeholder ecosystem, covering environmental, climate, safety, people, community and responsible-business considerations.
Result: greater clarity on the ESG issues requiring strategic management attention, strengthening the organisation's ESG agenda and reporting priorities.
Growing Demand for ESG Materiality Assessment
Investors, regulators and buyers now judge companies on ESG performance as much as on financial results. A credible materiality assessment is how you show you understand your ESG risks and opportunities, and it is increasingly a regulatory requirement, not a voluntary exercise. Whether your driver is BRSR in India, ESRS in Europe, or investor expectations globally, the assessment is where a defensible ESG programme begins.
Materiality in ESG: Why It Matters for Your Business
Materiality in ESG or ESG Materiality Assessment is critical for unlocking business success.
Explore our blog
Frequently Asked Questions
What should you look for in an ESG consulting firm for double materiality assessments?
Look for three things: fluency across all the materiality definitions (GRI impact, ISSB financial, ESRS double, BRSR India), assurance-grade rigour so the result survives independent scrutiny, and real sector experience so the material topics reflect your operating reality. Consultivo is an AA1000 licensed assurance provider working across 15+ sectors, fluent across all four frameworks.
How is a specialist sustainability consultancy different from a generalist provider for ESG reporting?
A specialist sustainability consultancy lives in the standards day to day, runs the stakeholder engagement itself, and stays independent of any audit or product conflict. That independence matters: the material topics surfaced should be the ones that matter to your business, not the ones that suit the provider. Consultivo works only in ESG, sustainability, safety and risk, which keeps the focus and the objectivity where they belong.
Who can help with ISSB IFRS S1 and S2 implementation alongside a materiality assessment?
The materiality assessment and the framework implementation should be joined up, because IFRS S1 and S2 use a financial, investor-focused materiality lens that must be reflected in how topics are scored. Consultivo runs the materiality assessment and aligns it to your chosen framework, ISSB, ESRS, GRI or BRSR, so the disclosure that follows is consistent from the first step.
Do you have materiality assessment experience in my sector?
Very likely. We have delivered materiality and ESG projects across 15+ industry sectors, including manufacturing, metal and mining, chemicals, agri-food and beverage, energy and utilities, pharmaceutical, construction, tea and supply chain. Sector context shapes which topics are genuinely material, so we bring that experience into the assessment.
How do you handle stakeholder engagement and surveys during a materiality review?
Stakeholder engagement is the core of a credible assessment, not an add-on. We design structured surveys and interviews for internal and external groups, board, employees, communities, customers, suppliers, investors and regulators, score each ESG topic on impact and financial dimensions, and consolidate the results into the materiality matrix. The engagement is documented so the outcome is defensible under assurance.
Partner with Consultivo
The materiality assessment is the first step in your ESG journey. Get it right, and everything after it, strategy, reporting, assurance, rests on solid ground. Partner with Consultivo for your ESG materiality assessment, double materiality assessment, ESG policy and ESG strategy development, and gain a clear roadmap for sustainable, resilient growth.
Related ESG Materiality Assessment Service
Reporting is one stage. Wherever you are, from finding what matters to proving it to an assurer, there is a Consultivo team for it.
ESG and sustainability reporting
GRI, SASB, TCFD and ISSB-aligned reporting, engineered on one authoritative page
Explore ESG and sustainability reportingValue chain ESG assessment
An independent diagnostic of where you stand against your ESG goals, and what to fix first.
Explore Value chain ESG assessmentIndependent assurance of your report
Reasonable and limited assurance for BRSR, ESG and sustainability reports, as a licensed AA1000 provider.
Explore assuranceESG Due Diligence
Our ESG Due Diligence and ESDD Services: Mitigating Risks and Ensuring Compliance for Strategic Investments.
Explore ESG Due DiligenceESG training courses and Certification
Build in-house capability with certified ESG, BRSR and sustainability courses from Consultivo Academy.
Explore trainingESMS Consulting
We develop, implement and sustain Environmental and Social Management Systems that satisfy your investors at diligence.
Explore Consulting