Understanding What Truly Matters

As sustainability defines performance and resilience, businesses must understand both how global developments create risks for their operations, and how their activities impact the environment and communities around them. This is the essence of the Double Materiality Assessment (DMA), a process that evaluates both financial materiality (the effect of ESG factors on your business) and impact materiality (your business’s effects on people, the planet, and society). At COVERE², we help organizations navigate this powerful assessment, turning compliance into strategic advantage.

Why doing a Double Materiality Now?

Double Materiality Assessment (DMA) is a strategic tool for making informed decisions, managing risks, mapping stakeholders, and setting the stage for effective value chain engagement. We see three main drivers behind the growing importance of DMA: 1. Compliance DMA is the first step toward CSRD compliance. While the upcoming Omnibus Directive introduces temporary uncertainty around the timeline of sustainability reporting legislation, the direction of travel is clear,** greater transparency and accountability are here to stay.** Even if your organization is not directly within the CSRD scope today, it’s important not to dismiss its relevance: your value chain partners likely are, and their compliance expectations will quickly extend to you. 2. Stakeholder Demand Sustainability is no longer optional. Consumers, investors, and regulators expect transparency: • 79% of consumers adjust buying behavior based on sustainability (Capgemini, 2023). • 90% of investors factor ESG performance into decisions (PwC, 2022). DMA builds the evidence base to meet these expectations credibly. 3. Business Resilience Your sustainability data is a strategic asset. A well-executed DMA strengthens your ability to anticipate risks, unlock opportunities, and future-proof your strategy. It’s not only about reporting, it’s about resilience, competitiveness, and informed transformation.

How We Do It

We deliver the Double Materiality Assessment over 2 to 4 months, through a structured, four-phase approach guided by our COVERE² digital platform. This method minimizes your workload, we engage your team only when needed, through four targeted workshops, while maintaining scientific rigor and meaningful value chain engagement. Our Four Phases 1. Kick-Off & Onboarding We gather data on your operations, structure, and value chain, onboard your team to the DMA process, and align expectations and methodology. 2. Assessment We identify, analyze, and prioritize Impacts, Risks, and Opportunities (IROs) across Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) topics, evaluating their significance and materiality through data and stakeholder input. 3. Gap Analysis We compare your current sustainability practices against ESRS expectations to pinpoint missing data, compliance gaps, and improvement areas. ** 4. Validation & Final Report** We review and validate findings with you and produce the final DMA report, your foundation for strategic sustainability planning and CSRD-aligned reporting

Our Activities and Methods

At COVERE², our DMA process combines scientific robustness, user-centered design, and value chain engagement: - User-centered approach: Using a Double Diamond design process, we iterate between discovery and definition to ensure insights are both comprehensive and actionable. - Science-based methodology: Our assessments rely on EU-aligned frameworks (ESRS, EFRAG, GRI) and robust data analysis, including AI-assisted research. - Stakeholder engagement: We amplify the role of your internal teams, ensuring results reflect real business priorities and internal knowledge. - Digital efficiency: The COVERE² platform manages data collection, workshops, and deliverables in one streamlined interface. This combination ensures your DMA is robust, comprehensive, and practical, not just an exercise in reporting.

Case Study: Viikki Research Farm

The Viikki Research Farm partnered with COVERE² to apply the DMA methodology in a real-world setting. We began by understanding the farm’s economic activities, structure, and value chain, and identifying key stakeholders. Through a series of workshops, we:

• Identified 120 Impacts, Risks, and Opportunities (IROs), of which 91 were classified as material.
• Mapped and prioritized topics across Environmental, Social, and Governance dimensions.
• Conducted an Initial Gap Analysis to evaluate data availability and reporting practices. Our key Findings provided a comprehensive view of Viikki’s sustainability performance, identifying major strengths, emerging risks, and strategic opportunities.
• Positive Impacts dominated, especially in the social domain, with strong contributions to own workforce, education, and community engagement.
• Negative impacts centered around climate change and pollution, primarily linked to livestock and energy use.
• Opportunities emerged in climate action, from carbon credit potential to eco-labeling and innovation in circularity (read here how we are exploring the carbon credit potential together here)
• Governance and biodiversity strengths were notable, supported by animal welfare practices and the farm’s ecological setting.

Our recommendations focused on strengthening environmental mitigation and circular economy measures, improving value chain transparency, and capitalizing on climate opportunities for resilience and competitiveness. We also advised **enhancing stakeholder dialogue, particularly with local communities, **to consolidate trust and social value. The outcome was a DMA Report on Viikki’s operation. (Read the full story: Viikki Research Farm and the Power of Double Materiality)

Why Choose COVERE²

Our DMA service stands apart because it merges compliance with transformation:

• Structured yet flexible – A four-phase process adapted to your context.
• Efficient and transparent – Powered by a collaborative digital platform.
• Expert-driven – Combining sustainability science, data analysis, and business insight.
• Stakeholder-inclusive – Built on engagement, validation, and co-creation. With COVERE², you gain more than a report, you gain a strategic tool for managing your sustainability impact, risks, and opportunities.

From Obligation to Opportunity

Double Materiality isn’t just about ticking the CSRD box.** It’s about understanding what truly matters, to your business,** to society, and to the planet, and turning that understanding into meaningful action. At COVERE², we make that journey structured, insightful, and transformative. Because sustainability performance is tomorrow’s right to operate globally. Onboard your sustainability transformation with us today!