Identifying an organisation's most important environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts is typically captured in one sweeping concept: materiality assessment. The cornestone in driving ESG strategy, performance and reporting is knowing which ESG impacts are more important than others for the business.

In 2021, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) published a new set of reporting standards: the Universal Standards 2021, which focus exclusively on impact reporting for a multi-stakeholder audience and will be effective for information published on or after 1 January 2023.

Within the framework of newly introduced EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, all organisations meeting application criteria are expected to not only include impact materiality perspectives (inside-out view), but also financial materiality perspectives (outside-in view) in their annual report.

Impact materiality

Double materiality

Deloitte’s approach to materiality assessment​

Although GRI and ESRS differ in terms of reporting requirements, both standards still have a significant overlap. At Deloitte, we have designed an expert high-level approach based on both types of standards. 

Stakeholder Engagement

• As a starting point, understanding and engagement of your relevant stakeholders is key. The following approach is suggested:​
  Identifying your stakeholders, both internal and external​
• Prioritizing the Key stakeholders and involving them in materiality assessment and due diligence processes​
• Obtaining and evaluating their interests and aligning those with your company's strategy and goals

We have ensured that the approach can be tailored to your business needs, as illustrated in the diagram below: