A good double materiality assessment does not stop at the spreadsheet

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Increasingly, companies are carrying out or updating their double materiality assessment (DMA). The revised ESRS allow for a more top-down approach, which offers a good opportunity to make the process more efficient. But efficiency should not come at the expense of the quality of the assessment. In this blog, we share three lessons for making the most of the time saved.

A quick reminder: in a DMA, you map out which sustainability matters truly matter to your organization, from two perspectives. What impact does your organization have on people and the environment? And which sustainability developments could have financial consequences for your organization? The outcomes are expressed as impacts, risks and opportunities, known in technical terms as IROs.

Where many organizations used to research and score every topic in detail from the bottom up, you can now also start top-down: with the topics that are evidently material based on your sector, your business model and previous assessments. You are also free to combine the top-down and bottom-up approaches.

1. Use the top-down approach, but dig deeper
The new method makes it possible to select topics that are already evidently material straight away. That can save a lot of time. After all, not every topic needs to be researched in depth all over again.

But this also carries a risk: selecting a topic is not the same as understanding why it is material to your organization. For a transport company, you know in advance that climate change is material. But does the biggest impact lie in its own fleet, with subcontracted carriers, or in the choices customers make? That is exactly the insight you need later on to make sound decisions about policies, targets and actions. So take enough time to explore the question: where do the impacts, risks and opportunities lie for our company?

2. Invest in good stakeholder workshops
A DMA becomes far more valuable when you don't just analyze from behind your desk, but draw on the knowledge of people in and around the organization. Well-prepared workshops with internal and external stakeholders can bring a surprising number of new insights to the surface. Not only about impacts, risks and opportunities, but also about the context in which they arise.

Think of employees from different business units, customers, suppliers, experts and other stakeholders. It is precisely the differences in perspective that help uncover blind spots. A buyer sees different risks in the value chain than a sales manager does, and a supplier sees different ones again.

A good DMA is therefore not just an assessment, but also a learning process.

3. See the DMA as the beginning, not the end
A double materiality assessment does not, in the end, give you a sustainability strategy. It shows where the most significant impacts, risks and opportunities lie.

That is when the real work begins. The outcomes need to be translated into:

• clear ambitions and targets;
• appropriate policies;
• concrete action plans;
• responsibilities;
• KPIs and monitoring.

The best DMA is therefore not the one that produces the most polished report, but the one that helps you make better choices and actually start moving.

Work smarter, and spend the time saved wisely
In short: use the new top-down approach to work smarter, but invest the time you free up in what truly adds value: understanding, connecting and then taking action.

Are you facing a new or updated DMA and would you like to talk through your approach? Feel free to get in touch. We're happy to think along with you.