Your stakeholders – from investors to employees – now expect you to do the right thing. What is your impact on the planet and what is its impact on you? How do you consider and work with the communities you operate in? Are you well governed beyond just complying with UK stewardship codes?

ESG is now a top priority for the C-suite. Cost of inaction could be potentially high, both financially and reputationally. It could mean you lose out on your competitive advantage, miss out on opportunities to expand into new markets or segments, or attract regulatory scrutiny.

But what opportunities can ESG bring to your business? How can you turn ESG risks into commercial avenues for the business? How do you drive the necessary change to your operations, working practices and behaviours? How do you become a sustainable business when the environment you operate in is changing so fast?

How we help you integrate ESG into your business strategy

We can support you in developing an ESG strategy that supports your business growth objectives, while balancing your business’ needs with those of the environment, external stakeholders (e.g. investors) and society. Our team of experts work with you to:

  • Understand the ESG landscape: We help you understand ESG trends and drivers that could impact your business, and how your business compares with direct peers and best in class ESG companies. This helps you to decide where to focus your efforts.
  • Assess your ESG maturity and ambition: Our ESG strategy maturity assessment and ambition development tools will assess where you are on your ESG journey, and your strengths and weaknesses. We can also benchmark your ESG maturity against industry frameworks and good market practice.
  • Conduct materiality assessments: We can identify ESG risks and opportunities that are material to your business using our proprietary ESG Landscape Assessment Tool, or a bespoke assessment customised to your budget. Options include depth of internal engagement and incorporating your external stakeholder views, such as customers, suppliers, lenders and shareholders.
  • Develop ESG strategy and strategic options: We help you develop a sustainable value strategy that will create long-term value and competitive advantage, outlining strategic options and platforms that could allow you to access key opportunities and mitigate priority risks.
  • Adopt circular economy practices. We help evaluate your circular economy targets and ambitions against your operating models and performance metrics. We can then help you eliminate waste and reduce costs throughout the product lifecycle and across your supply chain.
  • Communicate a compelling ESG story. We understand the issues that matter to your stakeholders, and what they expect from you. And we can help you communicate your ESG practices, enhancing your brand perception among customers, employees, lenders and shareholders. We specialise in capital markets communications and have deep experience in working with businesses at inflection points, such as IPOs, bond issues and private equity ownership.

Meet James Bath.

James explains how we challenged preconceptions around ESG to improve talent acquisition and deliver new financing options.

Our insights on ESG strategy

Some or all of the services described herein may not be permissible for KPMG audited entities and their affiliates or related entities.