From ESG ambition to defensible disclosure.
Materiality, ESG strategy, GRI and ISSB-aligned reporting, ratings improvement, and independent assurance. For organizations whose sustainability claims are read by regulators, investors, and rating agencies.
ESG is being priced into capital.
Across the GCC, ESG performance is no longer a reputational nicety. Mandatory disclosure through the SCA, ADX, DFM, and Tadawul, alongside investor and lender ESG screening, means a credible, audited ESG position now affects access to capital, cost of debt, and tender eligibility.
Most organizations can publish a sustainability report. Far fewer can withstand scrutiny of the data behind it. The difference is materiality rigor, framework alignment, and the governance that makes the numbers defensible. That is the work we do.
Seven services. One defensible position.
Every engagement is built so the disclosure holds up: material issues identified rigorously, data traceable to source, and outputs mapped to the frameworks your stakeholders already use.
Materiality Assessment
Double materiality assessment grounded in structured stakeholder engagement. We identify which environmental, social, and governance issues are financially material and where the organization's own impact is most significant, then prioritize them into a defensible materiality matrix.
Includes stakeholder mapping, peer benchmarking, issue prioritization, materiality matrixESG Strategy & Roadmap
Targets, commitments, and a phased roadmap across all three pillars, each tied to an accountable owner and a measurable KPI.
Sustainability Reporting
GRI and ISSB-aligned sustainability reports and annual-report ESG sections, written to disclosure standard and traceable to source data.
ESG Ratings & Indices
Submission preparation and score improvement for EcoVadis, CDP, MSCI, and S&P Global, with a year-on-year plan to close evidence gaps.
Stakeholder Engagement
Structured engagement with investors, employees, regulators, customers, and communities to surface and validate material issues.
ESG Governance & Policy
Board oversight structures, ESG policies, and disclosure controls so the program is governed, not just reported.
Third Party Assurance
Pre-assurance preparation and coordination with accredited verifiers for limited or reasonable assurance of ESG disclosures.
Four phases. Built to be assured.
The methodology below structures every ESG engagement. Phase 1 establishes what matters and where you stand. Phases 2 to 4 scale to the size and ambition of the program.
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Phase 01
Materiality and baseline
Establish what matters and where the organization stands. Run a double materiality assessment with structured stakeholder input, benchmark against peers, and gap-assess current ESG data and disclosures against the relevant frameworks.
- Double materiality assessment and stakeholder engagement
- Peer and sector benchmarking
- ESG data baseline across environment, social, governance
- Framework gap analysis (GRI, ISSB, SASB)
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Phase 02
Strategy, targets, and governance
Translate the material issues into an ESG strategy with measurable targets. Define the governance that will own it: board oversight, management responsibility, policies, and the disclosure controls that keep the data reliable.
- ESG strategy and target setting across all three pillars
- Governance structure and board oversight model
- ESG policy development
- Phased roadmap with KPIs and ownership
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Phase 03
Implementation and data systems
Move from strategy to operations. Embed data collection at source, instrument KPI tracking, and execute programs across the environmental, social, and governance pillars. Coordinate with our Carbon, Energy, and Waste teams on the environmental data.
- Data collection embedded at source
- Environmental data via CARBONTEK (carbon, energy, water, waste)
- Social and governance program execution
- KPI tracking and internal review cadence
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Phase 04
Reporting, rating, and assurance
Produce the disclosure and stand behind it. Publish a GRI and ISSB-aligned report, submit to the ESG ratings that matter to your stakeholders, and coordinate independent assurance so the figures are externally verified.
- GRI and ISSB-aligned sustainability report
- ESG ratings submissions (EcoVadis, CDP, MSCI, S&P)
- Third party assurance coordination
- Year-on-year cycle and continuous improvement
CARBONTEK anchors the environmental data.
The environmental pillar of every ESG report needs audit-grade data, not estimates. CARBONTEK provides scope-wise carbon accounting integrated with energy, water, and waste metrics, feeding the disclosure directly from source so the numbers survive assurance.
Explore CARBONTEKESG baseline across a 14-campus institution.
Higher Colleges of Technology · UAE · sustainability & net-zero program
For the UAE's largest applied higher-education institution, Farnek delivered GHG accounting and net-zero planning across 14 campuses, establishing the environmental baseline, data structure, and reporting foundation for an institution-wide sustainability program.
Frameworks, not opinions.
Every output is mapped to an internationally recognized framework, so the work can be reviewed, audited, and compared across reporting cycles and against peers.
Our team includes GRI Certified Sustainability Professionals, alongside Certified Energy Managers (CEM) and Measurement and Verification Professionals (CMVP) for the environmental data.
- GRI
- ISSB
S1 - ISSB
S2 - TCFD
- SASB
- UN
SDGs - EcoVadis
- CDP
Questions decision-makers ask us.
Common questions from sustainability leads, CFOs, investor-relations teams, and boards evaluating an ESG program. If yours is not here, get in touch below.
What is the difference between an ESG strategy and a sustainability report?
An ESG strategy defines what an organisation will do across environmental, social, and governance issues, with targets and accountability. A sustainability report is the periodic disclosure of performance against that strategy. The strategy is the plan; the report is the evidence. Producing a report without a strategy behind it is what regulators and rating agencies increasingly flag.
What is a double materiality assessment?
Double materiality assesses two directions of impact: how sustainability issues affect the business financially, and how the business affects people and the environment. It is the foundation of credible ESG reporting under ISSB and European frameworks, and it determines which topics an organisation should prioritise and disclose.
Which reporting framework should we use: GRI, ISSB, or SASB?
GRI suits broad stakeholder impact reporting and is widely adopted in the GCC. ISSB (which incorporates SASB and TCFD) is the emerging global baseline for investor-focused, financially material disclosure. Most organisations report against GRI and align with ISSB. We map your disclosures so a single data set serves multiple frameworks.
How do ESG ratings like EcoVadis, CDP, and MSCI work?
ESG ratings score an organisation against a defined methodology using disclosed data and evidence. EcoVadis is common for supply-chain assessment, CDP for environmental disclosure, and MSCI and S&P Global for investor-facing ratings. We prepare submissions, close evidence gaps, and build a year-on-year improvement plan against the target rating.
Does our ESG report need third-party assurance?
Assurance is increasingly expected and, in some jurisdictions, becoming mandatory for listed entities. It gives investors and regulators confidence that disclosed figures are reliable. We prepare reports to be assurance-ready and coordinate limited or reasonable assurance engagements with accredited providers.
What ESG disclosure regulations apply in the UAE and GCC?
Listed companies in the UAE report ESG through the SCA, ADX, and DFM disclosure requirements, with the country aligning toward ISSB standards. Saudi Arabia (Tadawul), Qatar, and Oman have comparable expectations. Listed entities, banks, and large state-linked operators face the most immediate obligations, and lender and investor screening extends the pressure to private firms.
Talk to our ESG team.
A 30-minute consultation, no commitment. We walk through your current ESG position, disclosure obligations, and the highest-impact next moves.