OUR WORK
Breakthrough advisory services
earth.inc provides expert advice related to strategy, risk and governance, and includes voluntary and mandatory compliance. We help you to unlock new value and assist you to build your organisational resilience and resolve.
The twin emergency of climate change and biodiversity presents unprecedented physical and transitional risks, in these risks lie opportunities in moving to net-zero through more outcomes focused organisational decision-making, which are more climate resilient.
We work with corporations, financial institutions and the public sector, to better understand and manage these risks, and build long-term resilience for business.
In this understanding we have arranged our work as a response to various thematic areas pertinent to business operational success – areas where we can make a meaningful contribution - and reduce risk and exposure.
Our expertise and focus covers the following four key areas:
Strategy and Policy
When we think about strategy we think about a systems change process. It’s about co-designing organisational vision that’s future fit. Where strategy and courageous leadership decisions become tomorrow’s reality. We provide transformative insights in mainstreaming ESG metrics into business, how best to integrate ESG into daily business activities and investment decisions. Climate change, social and natural capital risks are now material to business, risks which were considered as externalities are now significant internal risks. We co-produce strategy and vision to help you address, adapt to and minimise your exposure.
Our advisory includes:
- Sustainability strategy and policy (environment, social and governance - ESG)
- Scenario development – futures thinking
- Board and executive sustainability leadership coaching programmes
- Aligning policy and strategy with global ESG best-practice frameworks
- Financial, regulatory, direct and supply-chain (dependency) business risk assessment and review
- Stakeholder engagement (applying the AA1000SES)
- Policy, legal and regulatory advice
- Risk and resilience advisory:
- physical and transition risk identification and assessments
- adaptation strategies
- scenario analysis development
Process and Operationalisation
No strategy or organisational vision is effective without implementation. We work with business to embed (environmental, social and governance) strategies, policies and systems that add value, and improve internal organisational controls, bolstering efficiencies and performance in meeting international standards.
Advisory includes:
- Management systems support
- Develop and embed ESG management systems
- Conduct sustainability maturity assessments
- Facilitating the organisation sustainability journey – embedding of organisational sustainable development framework
- Change and improve management approaches and business control environment
- Organisational communication, stakeholder relationships and reporting
- Sustainability coaching, training and management capacity support
- GHG verification [against protocols and regulations]
- Materiality assessments, and setting Key Performance Indicators to support effective and transparent ESG monitoring and reporting
- Design and delivery of monitoring and reporting systems
- ESG Gap assessments of KPIs against reporting requirements and best practice
- GRI / SASB standards gap reviews
- Transaction advice – ESG due diligence assessments and reviews
Reporting and Disclosure
Your reputation matters. ESG reporting has morphed into a fast-moving area. As concerns, metrics, and mitigation strategies evolve and advance, the potential for companies to promote their compliance and achievements has grown.The issues business needs to consider in their disclosures have however, become increasingly onerous, and the expectations of investors and stakeholders are increasing. We assist you in making sense of the pandoras box of reporting requirements by focusing on the issues which are truly material to your business, and standardising reporting framework requirements.
Reporting advisory includes:
- SD reporting
- Taskforce for Climate related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) reporting
- Taskforce for Nature related Financial Disclosure (TNFD) reporting
- Natural Capital Protocol
- Conflict minerals (ICMM requirements)
- UN guiding principles on business and human rights
Validation and Verification
There is an increasing expectation by ratings agencies, investors, and stakeholders that ESG performance is accurately reported, and that disclosures are independently verified. Either as a voluntary or mandatory process – reputational risk gets exposed by the accuracy of reported ESG metrics. In a hyperconnected transparent society, where climate change, and social and environmental issues are becoming all the more topical, the practice of greenwashing is still largely prevalent.
It is essential to address the potential governance gap between objectives, expectations and reality. This is provided through verification and validation of material ESG reporting data , upon which organisational trust is built. Your ESG disclosures should be built on a solid foundation to withstand the rigour of stakeholder and shareholder scrutiny.
Our assurance advisory includes:
- Combined assurance:
- Assist management reviews
- Internal audit (adequacy and effectiveness of internal control environment)
- Independent external assurance (ISAE3000 and AA1000AS)
- Voluntary and mandatory compliance audits
- Due diligence assessments, reviews and audits