EY Sustainability Services

ESG and sustainability management is future-oriented business management. Manage your company’s impact in terms of Environmental, Social and Governance factors with a customized strategy that suits your needs.

Environmental, Social & Governance – the 3 pillars of ESG

ESG stands for Environmental Social Governance. The three pillars of ESG show how sustainably a company operates in these three dimensions:

1.       Environmental

2.       Social

3.       Governance

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) results in increased sustainability reporting obligations. An increasing number of companies are now compelled to provide an ESG report (also known as a CSR report).

What is sustainability reporting?

Sustainability reporting provides essential information on the impact and sustainability measures of a company. It is usually administrated by internal sustainability management and can be conducted according to various standards. For instance, the Global Reporting Initiative’s GRI Standards (GRI) or the Integrated Reporting Framework by the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS) provide guidance on the reporting process.

Increasing momentum through upcoming requirements such as the CSRD reinforces the need for alignment towards reporting a company’s sustainability performance. In addition to regulatory requirements, purpose-oriented and reliable communication on corporate sustainability helps you to improve your reputation among your customers, (future) employees as well as investors by optimizing ESG rating results.

Decarbonization or climate strategies are an essential part of sustainable business strategies. In times of increasing risks due to climate change and soaring demand, sustainable companies are one step ahead.

What is decarbonization?

A decarbonization or climate strategy is used to accelerate the reduction of carbon emissions and other GHG emissions. Decarbonization measures promote the shift to renewables and initiate the development of new product offerings.

If companies want to improve their sustainability performance or establish a more sustainable business, corporate climate action is needed. However, decarbonization serves not only as an essential measure for environmental protection, but also as risk reduction.

Sustainable Finance incorporates Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles when making investment decisions. As pressure increases it becomes crucial for many companies to align their economic activities with the so-called EU Taxonomy objectives.

Sustainable finance and its importance for business

Sustainable finance has developed into an important field of action for companies. In the EU policy context, sustainable finance is closely related to the European Green Deal. Financing for sustainable development supports economic growth while reducing pressures on the environment. In addition to environmental protection, the sustainable finance definition also includes social and governance aspects.

denkstatt specializes in environmental assessments for whole companies and also for specific products and services. Whether you want to identify opportunities for more sustainable production or communicate your performance to stakeholders – sustainability assessment is a requisite for your ESG management.

What is a sustainability assessment?

Sustainability analysis estimates the environmental, social and economic performance of a company, product or service and evaluates its impacts on nature, society, and the economy. In this case the three pillars, environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) would be combined. Which method to choose or whether a combined set of methods makes sense for your impact evaluation depends on the subject, the goal and scope definition, and system boundaries.

The circular economy is a sustainable economic model, thriving within our planetary boundaries and transforming our current linear economic system into a circular and regenerative one.

Sustainability and accountability go beyond a company’s site. This puts your supply chain and procurement into the focus of regulatory and corporate responsibility.

What is Supply Chain Management?

Supply Chain Management encompasses the handling of goods and services from raw materials to finished products through various processes. Due to globalization, supply chain solutions are in demand but come with complexity.

Increasing regulatory requirements such as the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the German Supply Chain Act or the Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) request companies to look beyond their corporate boundaries. Greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, human rights and other aspects of sustainability have to be considered in a sustainable supply chain. A risk analysis first provides information about which risks are particularly salient for you. The definition of suitable measures allows you to manage these risks.

Our sustainable supply chain consulting services help you to identify and to manage your risks in the depths of your supply chain.

EHS management stands for Environment, Health and Safety aspects in companies. In times of transformation, multiple crises and opportunities, EHS management helps you to lay a solid foundation for your sustainability management.

Why EHS processes are important

EHS is not a nice-to-have but has strategic importance for your business. In the field of EHS management, companies can assess and meet challenges as well as identify and seize opportunities. EHS leads to an appropriate understanding of your processes and the related impacts on environmental and sustainability issues.

EHS management stands for Environment, Health and Safety aspects in companies. In times of transformation, multiple crises and opportunities, EHS management helps you to lay a solid foundation for your sustainability management.

Why EHS processes are important

EHS is not a nice-to-have but has strategic importance for your business. In the field of EHS management, companies can assess and meet challenges as well as identify and seize opportunities. EHS leads to an appropriate understanding of your processes and the related impacts on environmental and sustainability issues.

Transactions and development services offer the best support to drive sustainable development in your company and protect you from risks that could harm your business.

How transactions and development services can help your business

As part of our transactions and development service portfolio, Environmental Due Diligence and Environmental Site Assessment help you to identify hidden performance shortcomings, legal non-compliances, financial and business risks. It is essential to uncover them before investing in a merger process, acquisition or internal development. At the same time, you protect your company’s reputation.

Moreover, we provide support throughout the environmental permitting process of investments and facilities in various sectors such as industry, logistics, office buildings and residential projects. This includes professional support in the preparation of developments, climate risk assessment and mitigation, environmental risk assessment, waste optimization and optimization of wastewater treatment technology. Our transactions and development support services help you to oversee your overall corporate performance and take the next step to running your business in an environmentally friendly manner.

We believe that today’s challenges need tools that help automate administrative tasks and give you the freedom and availability to make your company more sustainable in an easy way.

ESG Analyser

Powered by denkstatt Group, the ESG Analyser, is a comprehensive tool for collecting and evaluating reliable sustainability data with a focus on CO2, carbon footprint and physical climate risks. We partnered up with riskine – the top Austrian Fintech in the field of digital advisory solutions in the financial industry– and jointly developed the ESG Analyser, which is not only based on important industry standards, like the GHG and PCAF, but also connected to the most relevant sustainability databases.

The tool was designed for banks, insurances and other organizations with the need to gather primary sustainability data and analysis for a portfolio of organizations, customers or subsidiaries. Based on an intelligent set of questions with very limited effort, the ESG Analyser provides primary data on CO2e emissions (Scope 1-3), EU Taxonomy relevance, physical climate risks, as well as benchmarking data for your SME customers.