Sustainability & Emerging Assurance

Materiality assessment and stakeholder engagement:

• Identification and prioritisation of critical stakeholders following principles of leading ESG standards
• Identification of universe of relevant ESG topics and risks to guide stakeholder engagement and ESG topic prioritisation
• Strategically engage with critical stakeholders through various avenues; interviews, surveys, secondary research
• Integration of prioritised ESG risks into ERM
• Including: ESG and climate risk and opportunity assessment (including assessment of climate-related risks and opportunities from physical climate events and transition to low carbon and scenario planning)

Integration in internal audit plans:

• Evaluate, support and integrate ESG into internal audit plans

Data and process management and controls:

• Analysis of ESG processes and disclosure control environments
• Controls implementation
• Advice and recommendations with focus on:
• Design of effective control environments to improve ESG data management
• Information quality, including information used in a control
• Monitoring and oversight of ESG goals and KPIs
• Technology enablement (tools and technologies to manage ESG data)​

Disclosure preparation and/or review:

• Roadmap for enhanced data management and disclosure avenues (prep)
• ESG disclosure framework evaluation, selection and support in implementation
• Support in measurement and application of methodologies for subject matter calculations
• Support in development of ESG disclosure report(s) or integration in mainstream reporting in accordance with recognized climate and ESG standards and frameworks such as TCFD, GRI, SASB, Integrated Reporting
• Regulatory and investor relations disclosure advisory (review)

Gap assessment:

• Assessment and comparison with ESG standards, reporting frameworks, regulatory requirements (pending finalisation)
• Assessment of existing ESG disclosures compared to requirements of recognised ESG standards and reporting frameworks (e.g. SASB, GRI, TCFD)
• ESG ratings optimisation

Complex accounting:

• Technical advice on complex ESG matters and related transactions

Assurance readiness:

• Analyse, evaluate and provide recommendations focused on ESG reporting processes, data management and controls
• Definition of subject matter for review and evaluate suitability and availability of criteria
• Current state assessment through process walkthroughs for performance areas, understanding systems and roles and responsibilities, policies and procedures to define consistency of data gathering, measurement and presentation.
• Gap identification and potential areas for improvement in reporting processes and controls to prepare for external assurance

Recommendations to enable readiness for external assurance with a focus on:

• Remediation activities to address identified gaps
• Recommendation for ESG data management systems
• Areas for improvement in the reporting processes and controls, governance and oversight

Limited or reasonable assurance (attestation)*:

• Limited or reasonable assurance engagement on subject matter

*Subject matter includes select ESG metrics or ESG reports in accordance with ESG standards and frameworks ​(e.g. GRI, TCFD, SASB); green, social or other sustainability linked bond assurance; metrics, etc.​ Subject matter can include company specified measures, as long as suitability and availability criteria are satisfactory.

*Consultation strongly encouraged to determine appropriate attestation engagement for the circumstances (local PPD)

*Depending on the subject matter, certain assurance/attestation engagements will be subject to our Global Sustainability Assurance Methodology

Governance:

• Defining ESG governance models; board and supervisory board education
• Education to board of directors, audit committee, C-suite, business unit management, cross-functional teams

• Understand what information investors are looking for
• Identify gaps in current communications
• Determine the most effective channels for your organisation to communicate with the investment community
• Collect and disclose ESG information to investors in alignment with global best practices
• Build a narrative of your organizations’ ESG initiatives, objectives, and performance

Disclosure strategy:

• Evaluate, support and integrate ESG into corporate reporting requirements and strategies
• Definition of ESG objectives
• Target and metric setting for priority ESG topics
• Strategic integration of ESG into financial reporting advisory