ESG Program Strategy & Development

Companies around the world recognize that mitigating risks, building organizational resilience, and capitalizing on opportunities begin with a corporate-wide sustainability strategy. Beyond contributing to business performance, a robust ESG program is also increasingly required by company regulators, investors, and customers. Investing in ESG program strategy and development is therefore essential to meeting the needs of business today, while preparing organizations for business tomorrow.

How we can help

Every company’s sustainability journey is unique. ADEC ESG helps clients map that journey and create forward-thinking, holistic, and informed strategies to support decision-makers leading the charge on their ESG programs with actionable steps toward achieving ESG priorities and goals.

ADEC ESG provides comprehensive guidance on ESG corporate strategy and management, from evaluating risks and opportunities to turning visions and strategies into action with employees, direct operations, or supply chains. By working closely with all levels of the organization to develop materiality assessments, baseline assessments, gap analyses, and more, ADEC ESG helps companies cultivate a new mindset, frameworks, and operations that drive the evolution of business towards a more sustainable and resilient state.

Services provided include:

Materiality Assessment

• Identification and assessment of the ESG topics that are most impactful, relevant, and important to the company and/or its stakeholders, including the environment, people, and the economy
• Assessment could cover single materiality (impact or financial) or double materiality, depending on the needs of the company

ESG Baseline Assessment

• Comprehensive assessment of the company’s existing ESG program with key insights and recommendations for improvement
• Baseline assessments may include peer benchmarking, standard/framework alignment, document review, and/or stakeholder interviews

Gap Analysis

• Targeted analysis of a company’s current state against a desired future state
• Analysis may be informed by drivers such as regulations, stakeholder requests, and/or business performance improvements and include a critical path to address gaps

Roadmap Development

• High-level action plans or detailed topical roadmaps to operationalize priority ESG initiatives
• Roadmap initiatives may be prioritized by value and feasibility and accompanied by details on key resourcing and timelines

Workshop Design

• Information, engagement, and/or capacity building for key ESG program stakeholders
• Workshops may be in-person or virtual and include stakeholders such as the ESG Steering Committee, ESG Executive Leadership Team, and/or Board of Directors

ESG Management and Execution Support

• Acting as an outsourced extension of the client’s ESG team to provide increased knowledge and capacity at the management or staff level
• Accelerate timelines and expand client team’s ability to create deliverables
• Particularly relevant for clients with under-staffed ESG teams looking for a way to elevate their sustainability practices

Client Case Studies

Double Materiality Assessment for Fortune 100 Technology Company

ADEC ESG worked with a global Fortune 100 technology company to refresh its double materiality assessment and identify material ESG topics. The client had conducted materiality assessments in the past but had not revisited its assessment in several years and wanted to update its process to align with current best practices while refreshing its results.

ADEC ESG designed an assessment that was informed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) definition of impact materiality and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) definition of financial materiality, laying the initial foundation for the client’s future materiality assessments to be developed in compliance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

The results of the materiality assessment and identification of material ESG topics were validated by company management and the ESG Executive Leadership Team, and informed future program strategy and voluntary ESG reporting.

Client: Fortune 100 Technology Company
Location: Global
Project Results and Deliverables:

• Double materiality assessment
• Identification of material ESG topics for disclosure and reporting

ESG Baseline Assessment, Roadmap, and Workshop for Global Manufacturing Company

ADEC ESG completed an ESG baseline assessment, roadmap prioritization analysis, and ESG program development workshop for a global manufacturing company that designs and manufactures products with aerospace, defense, and industrial applications. The client was early in its sustainability journey and was looking to strategically grow, expand, and improve its program, more effectively embedding it within the company’s broader business strategy and operations.

ADEC ESG first conducted the baseline assessment, including the full range of environmental, social, and governance topics relevant to the company and its industry, presenting the results to a key group of internal stakeholders and guiding them through an ESG program development workshop designed to build cross-functional capacity and collaboration. The team also devised a framework to prioritize existing and future roadmap items for the client to continue to develop its ESG program over the short, medium, and long term.

These insights and recommendations were leveraged by the client immediately and helped shape and inform multi-year strategic planning for sustainability.

Client: Aerospace, Defense, and Industrial Manufacturing Company
Location: Global
Project Results and Deliverables:

• ESG baseline assessment
• Roadmap prioritization analysis
• ESG program development workshop