A stakeholder map is one of the most important tasks a company should perform. Knowing a company's stakeholders, their interests, and influence is the basis of proper strategic decisions and prioritization of actions toward sustainability. The corporate reporting should address stakeholders' issues since feedback on progress and problems is the only way for them to make solid and informed decisions.

La toma de decisiones basadas en el análisis de stakeholders o grupos de interés es una de las mejores herramientas que he usado. No necesitas ser una gran empresa para comenzar a implementarlo. Simplemente basta con hacer un mapa: 1) Al centro, está tu empresa y la esfera más cercana, tus colaboradores, clientes, inversionistas y proveedores clave. 2) Después, identifica quiénes son: Competidores (con los que valga la pena tener colaboraciones o aprender de ellos) Administración gubernamental (y todas las instancias vinculadas a permisos clave para tu operación) Medios de comunicación que difunden iniciativas parecidas a las tuyas. Asociaciones beneficiadas (si tu empresa beneficia directa o indirectamente a ONG's o empresas aliadas)

Knowing your stakeholders isn't just ticking a box; it's strategic insight. Dive deep - beyond the usual suspects. Consider those indirectly influenced by your projects and their future generations. How will your renewable energy initiatives impact them? The key is to think long-term and act with foresight.

The idea is to create a systematic and strategic process for identifying and addressing material issues that are crucial to both stakeholders and overall success of the business. Steps to achieve this is - List down key stakeholders and categorize them based on level of influence and then understand their goals and objectives. This will help in prioritizing areas of growth and hence map hotspots that are most material considering negative and positive impacts. This will help in better understanding of issues that could arise and aids with development of phased approach to resolution with long and short term strategies. All this ensure alignment with overall business goals & objectives and assurance to continuous improvement.

Identificar a las partes interesadas es el cimiento sobre el cual se construyen todas las estrategias ESG. Sin un conocimiento claro de quiénes son estas partes y qué les importa, es difícil, si no imposible, desarrollar una estrategia efectiva de sostenibilidad. Al identificar y comprender a todas las partes interesadas (¡o por lo menos las principales!), las empresas pueden garantizar que están considerando una amplia gama de perspectivas y preocupaciones, lo que les permite desarrollar estrategias más inclusivas y gestionar mejor sus riesgos.

It is necessary to employ various methodologies to assess the concerns of each stakeholder. The same approach may not be suitable for all of them, and it is crucial to discover ways to engage them effectively. While we must consider the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, we should not lose sight of the business's demands. To achieve this, we must have a deep understanding of the business strategy and operations, and continually review industry standards, guidelines, and benchmarks.

To pinpoint issues that resonate with stakeholders, don't just gather data - engage with it. Use innovative tools to measure stakeholder sentiment, like AI analysis of social media trends. Cluster findings into ESG themes, but keep an eye out for emerging concerns that could disrupt the renewable energy sector.

Engage with stakeholders through surveys, interviews, and workshops to gather their views. Analyse feedback to identify recurring themes and concerns. Cross-reference stakeholder concerns with business operations to pinpoint material issues. Consider the impact of these issues on the business and stakeholders. Prioritise issues based on their significance and the level of stakeholder concern. Validate the identified material issues with a representative stakeholder group. Document the process and outcomes to ensure transparency and accountability. Regularly revisit and reassess material issues to keep them aligned with stakeholder expectations and business evolution.

A preliminary list of issues can be developed by conducting a desktop research that includes benchmarking against peers and competitors, analyzing media trends and definitely using the standards such as (GRI, SASB etc). However, it is also important to assess other factors such as legal and regulatory frameworks, market and competitive factors (ex: Market share, innovation, supply chain) and other strategic and operational factors.

Sin un entendimiento claro de los problemas, las empresas pueden perderse en esfuerzos que no aborden las preocupaciones centrales de sus partes interesadas. Al considerar una amplia gama de fuentes y perspectivas y al alinear los esfuerzos con marcos reconocidos a nivel mundial, las empresas pueden garantizar que están abordando los problemas más relevantes y urgentes en el ámbito de la responsabilidad social y la gestión de riesgos ESG.

Prioritizing issues is more of a skill than science. It's not just about impact scales; it's about understanding nuances in stakeholder values. Integrate dynamic data sources, like predictive analytics, to foresee which ESG factors will matter most in the evolving landscape of renewable energy.

El estudio de materialidad es esencial para determinar qué temas son cruciales para una empresa y sus grupos de interés. Actúa como una brújula, guiando a las empresas hacia las áreas que requieren atención inmediata y recursos. Las empresas deben considerar no solo cómo los problemas afectan a sus partes interesadas, sino también cómo estos problemas pueden impactar la salud financiera y operativa de la organización (concepto de "doble materialidad"). La idea de utilizar una matriz para representar problemas en función de su impacto en los grupos de interés y en la empresa es una forma visualmente efectiva de priorizar. Esta matriz de materialidad puede ser una herramienta valiosa al tomar decisiones y asignar recursos.

La matriz de materialidad ha sido mucho tiempo la herramienta estrella para ponderar los problemas y priorizar acciones, lo que desencadena toda una estrategia de sostenibilidad/ESG. Algo que agregar relevante es que hay que ser meticulosos sobre cómo definimos los conceptos, pues las personas pueden comprender diferente: Riesgo climático a cambio climático. Por otro lado, destacar que se necesita una representatividad de los diferentes grupos y ser transparentes en la forma que se parametrizan los resultados, a fin de evitar sesgos. No siempre apareceran temas que como profesionales consideramos relevantes, o que son un "must" para nuestro sector. Que no aparezcan no significa que no les daremos un espacio en la estrategia del negocio.

In our experience, materiality assessments are first and foremost supposed to trigger a thought exercise, rather than en expectation of a uniform monetary quantification. Financial materiality asks - how will this issue impact your balance sheet in the future? And the new impact materiality asks - what impact do you have on society and environment? Getting started on these big questions is more important that getting them "right", as in ticking a box. Finding answers here is likely going to be a process that will help your business to become resilient, stay competitive and even more so, gain market advantages in a changing climate.

Start where you can build momentum. Yes, it is important to identify the biggest gains which can be achieved with the least effort. However, the mindset needs to be one where we are adopting a journey, of continual improvement. The first step is the most important. Building a team that can continue to work on improving sustainability is often an important starting point. Leadership also needs to be involved to ensure that any CSR goals can be maintained. Incentives in a business need to be lined up so that the people behind the changes are able to keep up the momentum.

Effective engagement and alignment with stakeholders, including customers and supply chain partners, are essential for sustainable business practices. Engage Stakeholders: Actively involve both internal and external stakeholders to understand their concerns and expectations. Periodical Reviews: Conduct routine evaluations of supply chain partners to assess their performance and alignment with your organization's standards. Strict Follow-Up: Establish a robust follow-up process to address issues promptly and ensure corrective actions are taken. Preventive Measures: Emphasize preventive actions to avoid recurring issues and enhance long-term sustainability.

Al priorizar problemas basados en la materialidad, las empresas también demuestran transparencia y responsabilidad hacia sus partes interesadas. Comunicar cómo se han priorizado los problemas y las acciones que se están tomando para abordarlos puede fortalecer la confianza y la relación con las partes interesadas.

Whilst sustainability reporting has matured over the past years, it is still considered a bit of a Wild West Area, as few reporting standards specify reporting requirements to a great extend, and so many different reporting practices have evolved over the past years. Standards such as ISSB and ESRS are trying to streamline this. That means, transparency is very important, as is exchange with auditors, peers and your data providers. Be open about your questions, your reporting gaps and foster a communication environment in which you can learn, rather than trying to just tick the boxes behind closed doors.

Una buena práctica para la validación es contar con un tercero independiente durante todo el proceso, de tal forma que exista un respaldo que de certeza a nuestros grupos de interés. Afortunadamente hay una mayor disponibilidad de terceros fuera de las big four que hacen asequible contar con la validación y respaldo, promoviendo que la comunicación de resultados sea una practica de mayor tendencia. Por otro lado, comunicar es un arte, por lo que así como hay una estrategia de sostenibilidad/ASG, debe estar acompañada de una de comunicación paralela a cada "hito" en sustentabilidad de la organización, que a su vez, evite malas prácticas de greenwashing.

All organizations are learning how to adopt sustainability. The best practices will change so that teams will need to revisit their approaches to measuring sustainability. Given that everyone is learning, it is worth building with a share-first approach. If we share our processes, and document our approach to corporate sustainability it will build trust. Furthermore, an open approach allow you to validate best practices to see that they can be improved over time.

Remember that sustainability reporting is not intended to just give you another obligation to come up with a report. The world has enough reports for reporting's sake. Instead, sustainability reporting is an invitation to really look at your business practise from an innovative and regenerative lens. How does the way you do business now shape the world in which you want to do business in the future? In the end, sustainability reporting should go way beyond a tick box exercise, but instead trigger a real reflection process with sustainable change as its goal.

Whatever industry you are in, look for sustainability champions. They could be in competing businesses, or even your clients. Building trust with them and working together can everyone make greater strides towards sustainability. It may be that there are lessons learned from other markets which might be applied to your own.

Para el sector financiero hay algunos informes en sostenibilidad/ASG que son un buen ejemplo y que dan detalles de su análisis de materialidad y/o identificación de sus grupos de interés: Informe Integrado de Banorte 2022 Reporte anual Banco do Brazil 2022 Informe periódico anual Bancolombia 2022 En fin, aún hay miucho camino por recorrer y cada camino es diferente para llegar a la comunicación adecuada y efectiva en sostenibilidad. Asi como los informes evolucionan con el tiempo, la materialdiad también.