ESG Reporting – the Foundation for Sustainability Transformation
and Stakeholder Communication

ESG Reporting – the Foundation for Sustainability Transformation
and Stakeholder Communication

ESG Reporting – the Foundation for Sustainability Transformation
and Stakeholder Communication

Baetge & Partner
Baetge & Partner
Baetge & Partner

Sustainability is no longer merely an image issue, but a central component of future-oriented corporate management. Professional ESG reporting enables companies to substantiate their own sustainability strategy, inform stakeholders transparently, establish efficient processes, and make data usable for management and transformation in the long term.

We support mid-sized companies in establishing ESG reporting efficiently, so that it fulfills regulatory requirements on the one hand and creates important decision-making foundations on the other. ESG reporting creates genuine business value when it becomes an integral part of operational and financial management.

Our consistent implementation of ESG reporting enables:

  • The establishment of a single point of truth for ESG data
  • The use of ESG data for planning and evaluating sustainability investments
  • The demonstration of the economic viability of sustainability measures
  • The generation of impulses for product development—particularly through Product Carbon Footprints (PCF)—

This makes sustainability measurable, manageable, and economically justifiable.

To implement ESG reporting, we have developed the following elements and formats:

Which regulatory requirements must we fulfill
(e.g., CSRD, EU Taxonomy, CBAM, CSDDD, LKSG, EUDR, PPWR, Equal Pay Directive)?
How can we implement the requirements efficiently?
A reporting strategy tailored to the company and its sustainability ambitions forms the foundation for targeted implementation of regulatory requirements. For efficient and cost-saving implementation of different regulations, we deliberately leverage synergies where their requirements overlap. Our goal in implementation: As much as necessary, as efficient as possible. Our focus is on the ESG metrics relevant for managing sustainability ambitions. Our clients benefit from our experience with large companies—adapted to the needs of mid-sized businesses.

Which standards (e.g., GRI, VSME, CSRD) are suitable for our purposes?
How can we implement the objectives of voluntary ESG reporting pragmatically?
Even when companies are not subject to direct regulatory reporting obligations, it may still be sensible or even necessary to prepare voluntary ESG reporting. The reasons for this can be diverse. Frequently, a voluntary ESG report enables or facilitates listing with a major customer’s procurement department. Other reasons may include, for example, the ambitions of shareholders or the conditions of financing. We support our clients in selecting suitable reporting standards (e.g., VSME or CSRD) and develop tailored reporting formats on this basis that are technically sound and efficiently implementable.

Which software solutions and systems are suitable for our purposes?
How can we integrate these systems into our IT landscape?
Critical to the efficiency of ESG reporting is the selection of a suitable software solution. This should enable the establishment of a “single point of truth” for all ESG data. It should also streamline data collection processes and—as far as possible—automate them through integration into the existing IT landscape. We support our clients in selecting and implementing such ESG software solutions. In doing so, they benefit from our experience in digitalization, the design of automated reporting processes, and a collection of extensive best-practice examples.

How do we ensure that the double materiality assessment meets audit requirements?
Is the double materiality assessment designed so that an ESG report can be prepared efficiently on its basis?
The double materiality assessment is the pivotal element in implementing ESG reporting. It is particularly important that the double materiality assessment not only meets the requirements of auditors, but is designed so that the reporting scope it defines and the associated implementation effort are fully understood and—where possible—minimized. We observe that double materiality assessments are often designed with good intentions but far too extensively (i.e., with too many IROs), which has corresponding implications for implementation. We prepare double materiality assessments for companies with appropriate focus on ESG report implementation, or revise existing double materiality assessments accordingly. A double materiality assessment can also be useful for companies not subject to CSRD. It serves to collect and structure insights and impulses for sustainability management.

How much CO₂ do we generate ourselves?
Which emissions do we source from upstream and downstream value chain stages?
While Scope 1 and 2 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol are usually well-captured in mid-sized companies, Scope 3 with its subcategories in the upstream and downstream areas requires a structured approach. Since relatively few primary data (PCF) are currently available for purchased products and services, a profound understanding of the derivation and use of suitable emission factors as well as the data sources to be linked (e.g., from procurement) is necessary. Furthermore, many of the Scope 3 emissions prescribed in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol can be determined through top-down analyses based on available benchmarks, databases, and estimates. We have extensive experience in developing and implementing corresponding data collection processes in Scope 3 that have already been approved by auditors. Our methodology is designed to minimize the effort required for data collection within the organization of the respective company.

How can we/must we use PCF for competitive differentiation?
How do we efficiently create PCF for which products?
Customers with ambitious sustainability goals or customers subject to CSRD increasingly require so-called primary data (direct CO₂ emissions from purchased products or services) for determining their own CO₂ emissions in Scope 3 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Therefore, suppliers must increasingly provide PCF information to avoid jeopardizing listing with customer procurement or to have a chance in tenders. The provision of PCF and the ability to reduce them thus become critical competitive factors. PCF also provide valuable impulses, for example, for product development, decisions on the use of specific materials, and product pricing. We support our clients in establishing efficient PCF methods—for individual products or entire product portfolios. In doing so, they benefit from our comprehensive knowledge of complex product compositions and production processes.

How does a bank assess our sustainability?
What impact does this have on financing, terms, and rating?
Through our many years of experience in the financial sector, we know the ESG assessment systems of banks. We support companies in preparing for bank meetings and advise them regarding the relevance of ESG classification in rating (creditworthiness assessment), ESG data provision, and argumentation toward the bank.

Additional Core Areas

Sustainability Management

Sustainability Management

Energy Management

Sustainable Value Chain

Sustainability

Sustainability Management

Energy Management

Energy Management

Sustainable Value Chain

Sustainable Value Chain

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