ESG & Sustainability

While no two ESG journeys are the same, corporate sustainability programmes must be measurable, transparent and accountable. Drawing upon our regulatory, financial, political and commercial expertise, our experts partner with you to identify, develop and execute an integrated, data- and values-driven programme that best communicates your story to your stakeholders:

• ESG Assessments and Due Diligence – From policy gap analysis to on-the-ground investigations, we help you build a clear ESG profile of your supply chain and potential investments. We apply sophisticated intelligence collection and analysis of your distinct, complex and sensitive ESG risks to help identify strengths and weaknesses in your approach to ESG.
• Materiality Assessments – Through quantitative and qualitative analysis, we identify factors that may have a material impact on your organisation. Our experts partner with management teams to prioritise key ESG risks and develop comprehensive ESG programmes that help achieve your strategic growth objectives.
• ESG Programme Development – From strategy development to project implementation, we work closely with you to evolve your ESG programme, by collaborating with management to improve governance, develop new policies and initiatives, select metrics/KPIs, provide guidance on data collection and internal coordination, and establish challenging and realistic performance targets that differentiate you from your peers.
• Sustainability Reporting – Our intimate understanding of the ESG landscape and stakeholder expectations reinforces our skill in guiding your organisation in developing ESG narratives and disclosures that both resonate with your key stakeholders and align with the prevalent ESG-related reporting frameworks.
• Supply Chain Audits – We employ blockchain technology to deliver solutions that provide secure, efficient, cost-effective and transparent programmes for businesses committed to ethical supply chain practices. Our end-to-end visibility in the value chain offers the compliance, tracking and transparency required to build resilience against ESG risks.

Within the ESG agenda, “social” reflects a company’s social license and its extended corporate values — from supply chain management to human capital commitments and engaging with the communities in which it operates. We help you develop an authentic ESG voice that speaks to all of your stakeholders, from building core programmes to crisis response.

• Advocacy and Public Policy – Organisations taking a stance on social issues must increasingly meet stakeholder expectations for both current performance and future ambitions. Our research-based approach helps you develop tailored government relations and public affairs strategies for achieving effective messaging and authentic narratives and engaging with all of your stakeholders.
• Shareholder Engagement – We help to articulate a clear and compelling equity story and develop best practice investor relations programmes, providing a solid foundation for successful ESG-related shareholder engagement.
• Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging – We develop an incremental approach to building an inclusive corporate culture, helping you to continue to attract, develop and retain professionals with diverse and distinct expertise and respond to the evolving demands of social issues.
• Community Engagement – A strong community engagement programme creates opportunities to demonstrate purpose; establish allies among partners, regulators and policymakers; anticipate and address reputational risk; and deliver enhanced value. We help you develop clear and consistent programmes that build credibility and trust between your organisation and the communities in which it operates. A targeted community engagement plan strengthens how a company advocates on critical societal issues and engages with local stakeholders on matters ranging from corporate giving to operational commitments that protect its license to operate.
• Crisis Communications – A company’s approach to crisis response must be grounded in its broader ESG programming, reinforced by its values, operational commitments and corporate governance structure. Our professionals work across a variety of crisis events from operational incidents to board investigations and cyber attacks. We ensure that your company’s response is consistent with your ESG commitments as you implement the appropriate oversight structures to respond and rebuild your corporate reputation in a post-crisis scenario.

As companies seek to advance their role in the transition to more sustainable energy sources, our experts bring significant capabilities to bear to assess and build strategies aligned with your climate goals.

• Climate Change Strategy – We help you develop robust strategic narratives to address risks and opportunities arising from climate change. Drawing upon the qualitative and quantitative assessments of key risks and opportunities, we help you with developing unique frameworks for evaluating such risks and disclosing an approach to key stakeholder audiences in a compelling way.
• Energy and Net Zero Strategies – Our services help you quantify the risks and opportunities related to climate change through emissions benchmarking and reporting of decarbonisation and net neutrality strategies, enabling you to prepare for the energy transition in a cost-effective manner.
• Environmental Solutions – We provide services across multiple areas including alternative dispute resolution (arbitration and mediation), forensic historical research, clean-up cost and damages allocation, NCP consistency, environmental claims analysis, and financial and cost accounting.
• Asset Lifecycle Management – We assist in developing and implementing strategies, plans, processes and tools to optimise the lifecycle value of your changing asset portfolio while still ensuring reliable service throughout the energy transition.
• Climate Change Scenario Analysis – We conduct economic impact analyses to help you assess the potential risks and opportunities associated with the transition to a lower-carbon economy.

As the capital markets and international regulatory landscape continue to evolve, organisations must navigate the shifting expectations of shareholders to manage and control ESG issues. This includes enhanced policy disclosure, targeted engagement strategies and adoption of KPIs/targets tied to executive compensation in the ESG space. Our experts apply sophisticated intelligence collection and analysis of the complex and sensitive ESG risks while keeping the interests and support of shareholders top of mind.

• Shareholder Activism – Our team works to develop strategies to secure ongoing shareholder support, from identifying vulnerabilities to strategy development, communications, and engagement with shareholders and proxy advisors.
• Cybersecurity and Risk – As more devices come online and interconnectivity increases, your ability to respond and manage a cybersecurity incident or data privacy attack is directly related to your company’s ESG commitments and assessments, including protecting critical infrastructure and governance of sensitive information. We build a safer future by helping clients understand their own environments, harden their defences, rapidly and precisely hunt threats, holistically respond to crises, and recover operations and reputation after an incident.
• ESG Investigations – We conduct ESG-related investigations ranging from on-the-ground inquiries related to labour practices and sanctions to diversity- and human capital-related investigations for boards of directors.
• ESG Risk Assessments – Identifying ESG factors that may have a material impact on your organisation is a critical risk management endeavour. We help companies maintain a long-term perspective and evaluate the extent to which stakeholder activity affects the company’s ability to operate and preserve shareholder value over the long term.