Work

Materiality Assessment Is an Art, Not a Science: Selecting ESG Topics for Sustainability Reports

Year: 2022

Type: article

Abstract: Materiality assessments play an important role in helping firms to select the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics to include in their sustainability report. This article presents the six main steps of materiality assessments, the methods used, and how the complexity, uncertainty, and evaluative nature of sustainability issues complicate them. This article draws two conclusions: the selected materiality perspective influences how the other steps are conducted, and assessment results should not only focus on selecting win-win scenarios, but also on “tensioned topics,” which indicate material societal impact but lack a business case.

Source: California Management Review

DOI: 10.1177/00081256221120692

Authors: Jilde Garst, Karen Maas, Jeroen Suijs

Institutions: Erasmus University Rotterdam, Open University of the Netherlands

Language: English

Topic: Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting

Subfield: Strategy and Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,900

OpenAlex ID: W4297004735

FWCI: 13.81

Cites:

Cited by: 100

Related to: 10