ESG & sustainability consulting

We help companies to understand and reduce their carbon emissions. Our approach is practical, evidence-based and tailored to your business objectives.

• GHG footprint and transition plan: A complete inventory of your greenhouse gas emissions, including a substantiated reduction plan aligned with your business activities.
• Climate transition plan: A strategic roadmap to carbon neutrality, aligned with your business objectives and growth strategy.
• Support in connection with CO2 frameworks: Grant Thornton can help you determine and submit SBTi objectives, or implement the CO₂ Performance Ladder and improve your position on it.
• GHG assurance (ISAE 3040): Independent verification of your emission inventory for maximum transparency, reliability and credibility with stakeholders.

In addition, we use powerful tools such as simulation and GAP analyses with associated action plans. This means we can ensure that your emission reduction is not just effective, but commercially relevant.

Sustainable investments require a clear framework and reliable evidential support. We can help you to organise this properly, so that you are ready to meet the requirements of both the market and the regulations.

• Green finance framework: We support you in setting up and optimising an investment framework that meets the requirements for green financing.
• EU taxonomy assessments: We assess the extent to which your activities are in line with the EU taxonomy, providing clear evidence.
• Performance assurance: We offer independent validation of your framework and performance, enabling you to increase investor and stakeholder confidence.

We work with you to select the right financing model and ensure that your sustainable investments are well positioned. With our expertise and assurance, you will attract responsible capital and increase your impact.

The transition to a circular economy requires wise choices to be made. We help you develop circular strategies that are not just sustainable, but economically feasible and future-proof.

• Circular products: We develop strategies to maximise reuse and extend products’ lifespan.
• Circular business model advice: We analyse the financial feasibility of circular solutions and help you optimise the model.
• Certification guidance: We support you in obtaining circular certifications that strengthen your sustainability and compliance.

We ensure that your circular approach both complies with regulations and offers a response to the scarcity of raw materials and rising material costs. With our expertise, we ensure that your circular transition is both economically viable and strategically valuable.

Sustainability requires direction, structure and insight. We help you to gain a clear picture of risks and opportunities, and to translate them into a concrete plan well suited to your organisation.

• Strategy and impact analysis: We identify sustainability risks and opportunities (e.g. by means of double materiality analysis) and draw up an action-oriented plan on this basis.
  
  
• ESG governance: We develop a governance structure that integrates ESG into your organisation, and assess how firmly sustainability is embedded in your strategy and business model.
  Sustainability reporting and actions: We provide support with data collection, progress measurement and the preparation of reports to meet the relevant standards (such as CSRD, ESRS, GRI, EU Taxonomy or VSME).
  
  
• Support as a sustainability manager (as a service): Do you want to work with a permanent sustainability manager who knows your business – but do you lack the internal resources or are you unable to assess the workload or task set? We can give you efficient, flexible assistance – tailored to your company’s needs – with integrating sustainability, carrying out specific projects, or temporary or permanent support for your internal sustainability manager.

With tools such as a materiality matrix and ESG benchmarking, we help you make informed choices that create value – for your business and for the world. You decide which aspects you take on yourself and which you outsource to us.

A sustainable value chain starts with a clear picture. We help you to identify risks and opportunities in your supply chain – and to manage them strategically.

• Value chain and supply chain mapping: We create a clear map of your chain and impact areas, from raw material to end product.
• Due diligence risk analysis: We identify ESG risks in the chain and help you make them manageable.
• ESG benchmarking: We compare your supply chain performance with market standards and best practices.
• Co-creation with supply chain partners: We explore collaboration opportunities with suppliers and other partners to increase sustainable impact.

We help you with a thorough value chain analysis and due diligence risk assessment, ensuring that you minimise risks and make use of sustainable opportunities. With our expertise and tools, you gain insight into the entire chain and can take strategic actions to achieve both compliance and competitive advantage.

A carefully chosen sustainability framework helps you to provide structure and direction, improve performance and communicate credibly. We help you to make the right choices and implement them effectively.

• Framework selection: We advise which label or framework is best suited to your strategy and ambitions.
  
  
• Structuring the management system: We help to set up processes and governance systems that match your chosen framework.
  
  
• Strategic roadmap and action plan: We guide you step by step towards better sustainability performance.
  
  
• Benchmarking and validation: We compare your performance with market standards and ensure evidence-based optimisation.
  
  
• Selection and implementation of sustainability tools/software: sustainability performance monitoring can be simplified by implementing the right tools. We help companies to select and implement tools that are adapted to the size, the complexity and especially the needs of your company.

We help you with frameworks such as EcoVadis, Future Fit or B-Corp, so that as well as meeting sustainability standards you actually use them strategically to strengthen your impact and market position.

If you want to make some significant progress right away, choose CSO-as-a-Service. A chief sustainability officer from Grant Thornton will set out the guidelines for ESG policy in your business. You can work together to develop ESG initiatives and set up the sustainability and ESG programme.