Responsibility · Impact and materiality · Component

Double materiality assessment

The scoring of each issue in two directions — outward impact and inward financial effect — against thresholds set in advance.

The deliverable

What it is

The assessment turns the impact register and the organisation’s own exposure into a short list of material topics. Those topics then set the agenda for targets and for disclosure, which is why the assessment deserves more care than it tends to receive.

Its credibility depends on being repeatable. Someone reading it a year later should be able to see who took part, what evidence was used and where the lines were drawn — and reach a similar result.

One level in

What it is made of

Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.

Impact materiality
How much each issue affects people and the environment, drawn from the severity recorded in the impact register.
3 attributes: Issue · Impact score · Evidence
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Financial materiality
How much each issue could affect the organisation’s cash flows, cost of capital or access to finance, and over what horizon.
4 attributes: Estimated effect · Time horizon · Confidence · Risk register entry
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Materiality threshold
The score above which an issue counts as material in either direction, decided and recorded before any scoring starts.
3 attributes: Threshold score · Rationale · Decided on
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Assessment record
Who carried out the assessment, when, with what method, and how the resulting list of material topics differs from last time.
3 attributes: Completed on · Participants · Version
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Keep the two directions apart until the final step. A single blended score lets the financially convenient view win without anyone deciding that it should.