When Materiality Meets Reality
What if we look at an old tool in a new way?
I propose a variation on a materiality assessment, as an alternate way to understand a company in relation to the future we want.
This new approach asks the question,“What if materiality was based in reality?”
Those of us working in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) space, encounter materiality assessments a fair bit. If you’re new to the topic and you’ve just happened by, this view from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) might help. On the other hand it might underscore the need to connect materiality with reality, as it outlines more and more appendages being hooked onto the ESG solar system, trying to prove how life can keep revolving around business, and not the other way around.
For more details including the proposed methodology and a prototyped assessment of Alphabet (Google) to test the idea further, visit my website here. This is open source content; there is no paywall or log-in required. There is also 4-minute explainer video here. More context on what I’m suggesting follows below.
