Double Materiality
Double materiality refers to the concept that sustainability risks and opportunities are relevant not only to a company’s financial performance but also to the broader societal and environmental impacts of its operations. It emphasises that a company’s impacts on the environment and society can, in turn, affect its financial performance. Therefore, sustainability considerations should be considered from both financial and non-financial perspectives. In the context of sustainability reporting, double materiality means that a company should not only disclose the material risks and opportunities that directly impact its financial performance (financial materiality). It should also disclose those that have significant social, environmental, and governance (ESG) impacts (non-financial materiality). That implies that companies need to consider not only the financial implications of sustainability issues but also the broader implications on stakeholders, including communities, ecosystems, and society at large.
