What is a materiality assessment (and why it matters now)
Materiality assessments help organisations decide which ESG risks, impacts, and opportunities deserve investment—and double materiality raises the stakes further.
1. Define materiality in today’s context
Materiality started as an accounting concept, but ESG leaders use it to understand where their operations create the most impact—or face the greatest risk. A credible assessment scans financial, environmental, and social issues, then ranks them based on stakeholder input and business strategy.
Frameworks like GRI make it clear that material topics must be reported, not buried, because they influence how investors and communities judge your organisation.
2. Run a stakeholder materiality assessment
The most trusted assessments combine research, expert insight, peer benchmarks, and direct stakeholder engagement. Surveys or interviews score each ESG topic through two lenses: significance to the organisation and significance to stakeholders.
The result is a prioritised list of risks and opportunities that can guide reporting, investment, and board oversight.
3. Embrace double materiality
Regimes like the EU’s CSRD expect companies to disclose both outside-in (financial) and inside-out (impact) perspectives. That double materiality view explains how sustainability issues affect your business and how your business affects people and the planet.
Companies that get ahead of these expectations can respond faster to regulators, lenders, and customers who already require this level of proof.
4. Use the assessment to drive strategy and value
- Regulation readiness: Materiality evidence underpins CSRD, TCFD, and other evolving disclosure rules.
- Better decisions: Surfacing emerging ESG themes early helps leaders allocate capital with a longer time horizon.
- Value creation: Prioritising ESG work improves reputation, employee engagement, and long-term resilience.
5. Keep stakeholders involved
Diverse stakeholders—including investors, boards, employees, suppliers, customers, and communities—see different risks and opportunities. Engaging them builds trust, highlights blind spots, and makes it easier to act on the findings.
Materiality should be iterative; refresh the assessment when strategy, regulations, or stakeholder expectations shift.
6. Turn insights into action with Drova
Drova’s Double Materiality Assessment workflows keep every survey, scoring model, and issue map in one place. Templates guide stakeholder outreach, automate calculations, and push prioritised issues into your sustainability roadmap.
When the board or regulators ask for proof, the evidence is already structured and exportable.
Use Drova to map stakeholder input, prioritise ESG work, and prepare CSRD-ready disclosures.
