Sustainable Business Handbook
Assess your priorities
Focusing on the most relevant sustainability topics enables businesses to make meaningful impacts, meet stakeholder expectations, and use resources effectively. Without clear priorities, efforts risk becoming scattered, reducing their effectiveness.
To identify key areas, conduct a double materiality assessment, which evaluates both the company’s impact on society and the environment (impact materiality) and how sustainability issues affect financial performance (financial materiality). Engage stakeholders such as employees, customers, and investors to understand their concerns, and align these with regulatory requirements, industry trends, and strategic goals.
Reassess priorities regularly to stay aligned with evolving circumstances. This approach helps businesses focus their actions and reporting on what truly matters, fostering credibility and driving progress.
Get Started
To get started, conduct your own Double Materiality assessment. Identify the most material topics by evaluating financial risks and opportunities to your business and where your business has the greatest impact on society and the environment.
Assessing Financial Risks and Opportunities
Conducting a financial risks and opportunities assessment involves identifying key sustainability topics impacting financial performance and resilience. A suitable framework should be chosen to define these topics, and the SBA Reporting Framework can serve as a useful starting point (see below). Evaluate risks (physical, reputational, liability, and regulatory) and opportunities (market shifts, innovation, and resource efficiency). Consider current and upcoming regulations, customer and investor expectations, and due diligence requirements. Conduct scenario analyses to test resilience and prioritise key risks and opportunities. Regularly review these priorities and integrate findings into strategic planning.