Sustainability reporting software provider Novisto announced the launch of Novisto Materiality, a new digital solution aimed at enabling companies to conduct double materiality assessments to meet new compliance obligations and to identify and address their most significant sustainability-related impacts, risks and opportunities.
“Double materiality” is one of the hallmark new approaches introduced by the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive’s (CSRD) European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), requiring reporting both on the risks and impact of sustainability issues on an enterprise, as well as on the enterprises’ impacts on environment and society. Novisto noted that assessing double materiality extends beyond CSRD compliance obligations, with companies reporting under both the ISSB’s financially-focused standards and the GRI’s impact-focused standards also creating a need for organizations to evaluate material ESG factors for reporting, risk management, and business strategy.
According to Novisto, the new solution, integrated into its core sustainability platform, addresses key challenges for companies in carrying out materiality assessments, which currently often rely on qualitative surveys, require significant time, effort and cost, and can create difficulty in objectively evaluating competing impacts, as well as in updating information. The company said that the new solution, which is powered by GIST Impact’s science-backed methodology, replaces subjective opinions with a standardized, data-driven scoring logic, and enables assessments to be carried out whenever needed, such as for evaluations of potential acquisitions.
Key features and capabilities of the new solution highlighted by Novisto include the ability to capture primary qualitative and quantitative data inputs, generation of financial and impact materiality scores using AI-powered analysis for every topic and IRO, internal and external stakeholder engagement through in-platform surveys, documentation of materiality decisions, and the ability to create a clear trail for assurance, audit, and data verification needs.
Novisto CEO and Co-Founder Charles Assaf said:
“Materiality should not be treated as a box to check once every two years. We believe the effectiveness and reliability of ESG and risk programs depend on the integrity of its starting point. This launch reflects our vision of giving organizations the confidence to manage sustainability information with the same discipline as financial information.”