The foundation for a strong and relevant sustainability report:

Double materiality, stakeholder expectations and the link with strategy and ambition

A meaningful sustainability report starts with a clear and coherent narrative about how an organisation manages and drives sustainability.

It must align with its purpose - why you are reporting - and the reader’s information needs. Three building blocks are essential:

  1. Double materiality defines which topics truly matter within your organisation.
  2. Stakeholder expectations shape the form and level of detail in your report.
  3. Reporting purpose determines the depth and strategic use of your report.

1. Double materiality: the content foundation

Double materiality analysis (DMA) is the starting point and foundation of sustainability reporting. It is a core requirement under the CSRD, but even without a legal obligation, it provides a valuable basis for strategic and impact-driven management. The principle means assessing sustainability topics from two perspectives:

  • Which sustainability developments pose risks and opportunities for the organisation? (Financial materiality)
  • On which topics does the organisation have a significant impact on people and the environment? (Impact materiality)

Stakeholder engagement is a key part of this analysis. Customers, investors, NGOs and employees provide valuable input on which topics they consider important. These insights help define both materiality perspectives and avoid blind spots.

Double materiality

2. Stakeholder expectations: guiding form and depth

Equally crucial as content are stakeholder expectations about how you report. What information do they expect from your organisation on sustainability performance? And how does this align with reporting standards?

Dialogue with stakeholders helps determine:

  • Which reporting standard fits best (e.g., ESRS or VSME).

  • Which ESG data to collect, monitor and evaluate.
  • What level of detail is needed per DMA topic?

A sustainability report is only significant when tailored to stakeholder information needs. This dialogue also lays the foundation for collaboration on sustainable solutions and stronger trust.

3. Purpose drives approach

Reporting obligations have been postponed for many organisations. This creates both extra space and uncertainty about how to proceed. In this context, you can distinguish between two motives for reporting: proving or improving.

Proving: showing what you do

The focus is on accountability: demonstrating compliance with laws and stakeholder expectations. You choose verifiable information, such as employee numbers, CO₂ emissions, energy use or safety statistics. Communication is factual and structured, often following a standard such as ESRS, VSME, GRI, or SASB.

Our advice:

  • Go beyond compliance. Align with key stakeholder expectations and choose the most effective way to engage them - through a report or other channels, such as video or a podcast.
  • Select topics carefully. Report on what matters most to your organisation and stakeholders. Importance determines detail: the more significant the topic, the more detailed the reporting should be.

Improving: making things better

This is about driving development and progress. Your report shares management information that shows how you are working on improvement, such as diversity or CO₂ reduction targets, or pilots for circular production. Transparency encompasses challenges, lessons learned, and steps still to be taken.

Our advice:

  • Link progress reporting to strategy and connect information explicitly to long-term ambitions and core values.
  • Be open about progress and challenges. Show successes and setbacks, including lessons learned. Present multi-year trends and improvement initiatives to demonstrate active and adaptive progress.
  • Make visible which information underpins decisions - dashboards, KPIs, scenario analyses or pilot evaluations. Please explain why you chose these indicators and how they align with strategic goals.