ESG & Sustainability
Leading in specialties including compliance, reporting, risk, controls, assurance, decarbonization strategy development and technology consulting, we provide comprehensive environmental, social and governance (ESG) and sustainability advisory that spans solutions for any company, function or challenge.
ESG & Sustainability
A well-defined ESG and sustainability strategy empowers organizations to create and safeguard stakeholder value, strengthen enterprise resilience and effectively manage emerging risks. Through transparent, actionable reporting, ESG becomes a catalyst for telling credible performance stories, building trust across the business ecosystem and securing a sustainable future.
The rise of sustainability risks and regulations
Companies face a rapidly evolving landscape of sustainability-related regulations, exposing them to heightened compliance demands and risk exposure. Baker Tilly provides comprehensive ESG support — spanning accurate emissions baselining, realistic decarbonization planning, regulatory alignment and assurance-ready reporting. In addition, Baker Tilly advises on governance structures and operational oversight frameworks that embed sustainability into core risk management and strengthen long-term organizational resilience.
Explore end-to-end corporate sustainability solutions
ESG and sustainability reporting is no longer a voluntary exercise and can be a risk to corporate reputation if done without rigorous analysis, processes, controls and governance. As regulations evolve, the sustainability disclosures including non-financial data require the same rigor as financial statement reporting to meet investor grade standards. As a trusted CPA firm with a long history in reporting readiness and assurance services, we are uniquely positioned to guide organizations through evolving regulatory requirements and meet the highest standards of data integrity and transparency demands. Our approach recognizes the challenges of integrating sustainability reporting with traditional financial functions and systems. Our ESG advisory engagements include both CPA and sustainability specialists to ensure seamless integration and help companies bridge these two disciplines. Baker Tilly can help organizations prepare for the future of sustainability reporting, today.
Reporting
Organizations today face mounting pressure to strengthen their sustainability disclosures — not only from emerging regulations, but also from investors, customers and supply chain partners demanding greater transparency and accountability. As ESG shifts from a voluntary initiative to a strategic expectation, companies must prepare their data collection and reporting processes to ensure compliance, materiality, completeness, accuracy and assurance readiness. We help clients understand the evolving regulatory landscape, build robust governance and reporting controls and develop disclosures that meet both compliance obligations and stakeholder scrutiny.
Capabilities:
- Materiality assessments: Assist in the process to identify material ESG and sustainability topics utilizing either a single (financial) or double (financial and societal impact) approach to materiality, enabling organizations to set clear reporting objectives that are aligned with their strategy, reflect stakeholder expectations and comply with relevant regulations such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) or standards such as the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).
- ESG and sustainability reporting: Assist with drafting ESG and sustainability disclosures aligned with frameworks such as ISSB or Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), comply with regulatory reporting requirements such as the California Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act or the European Union’s CSRD and address vendor questionnaires such as EcoVadis or CDP (formerly Carbon Disclosure Project).
- Climate-related risk reporting: Utilizing the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework, assess current risk management processes, identify climate-related risks and opportunities and evaluate their associated impacts. Develop risk responses and mitigation plans considering your organization’s risk tolerance and strategic priorities.
- Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting: Assist with data gathering and reporting for scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas emissions utilizing the GHG protocol standards. Develop standard policies and procedures for carbon accounting utilizing Inventory Management Plans (IMP).
- Data solutions and analytics: Derive value from data, through advanced machine learning, data visualization and implementing new data to support digital sustainability initiatives and establish a “single source of truth”.
- Reporting process and internal controls: Evaluate existing sustainability reporting workflows and associated internal controls to identify opportunities for enhancement. Deliver targeted recommendations and hands-on implementation support to facilitate a streamlined, robust and well-governed reporting framework — enabling reliable, assurable disclosures aligned with evolving stakeholder expectations and regulatory standards.
Assurance
As ESG disclosures are increasingly scrutinized by investors and regulators, third-party assurance is a foundational part of sustainability reporting integrity. As a trusted CPA firm with specialized skills and deep knowledge, third-party assurance provides stakeholders with confidence in the accuracy of data, compliance with regulatory standards and safeguards against allegations of greenwashing.
Capabilities:
- Assurance readiness: Assess the systems, controls and processes to collect, report and comply with selected frameworks, metrics and regulatory reporting requirements. Support the identification and design of controls over sustainability reporting.
- Limited assurance: Performed under the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) standards, provide limited assurance conclusion over Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports, required disclosures, GHG emissions, ESG and sustainability data, metrics and reporting in accordance with applicable frameworks and standards.
- Reasonable assurance: Performed under AICPA standards, provide reasonable assurance opinion over CSR reports, required disclosures, GHG emissions, ESG and sustainability data metrics and reporting in accordance with applicable frameworks and standards.
- Internal audit and controls: Identify, design and evaluate internal controls over sustainability reporting. Integrate ESG and sustainability risks into your internal audit plan and assist with the evaluation of related risks. Assist in the development of systems, controls and processes to collect, report and comply with selected frameworks, metrics and regulatory reporting requirements.
Strategy
Corporate sustainability remains a highly dynamic discipline and best practices are evolving for every industry. As stakeholder expectations for corporate transparency grow, companies must stay ahead of industry trends and peers to realize the full value of sustainability reporting. Action toward an intentional ESG and sustainability strategy will help your organization manage risks, prepare for regulatory reporting and compliance requirements, heighten market competitiveness and ultimately drive growth.
Capabilities*:
- Current state assessment: Assess current state performance of current policies, procedures, measurement systems and data collection sources through regulatory reporting requirements, frameworks and peer benchmarking. Provide prioritized recommendations to improve performance and address gaps.
- Ratings and questionnaires: Enhance reporting processes to meet vendor and rating agency information requests and improve scoring.
- Target and goal-setting: Develop an ESG and sustainability vision and set goals aligned with the organization’s strategy and based on deep techno-economic analysis. Develop metrics and targets to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) and collect relevant data to measure, monitor and track progress against the goals.
- Scope 1 and 2 reduction roadmap: Conduct scenario-based techno-economic analyses to determine the best path for achieving decarbonization goals. Building or leveraging existing GHG baseline data, site, market, and client information to develop scenarios for scope 1 and 2 reductions and building Science Based Initiative (SBI) goals and roadmaps for achieving those goals including energy efficiency, operational improvements and efficiencies, energy generation and storage options.
- Scope 1 and 2 decarbonization strategy: Assess pathways to decarbonization and net zero, strategies for climate resilience, operational efficiency, system energy efficiency, and electrification. These strategies span industries and organizations (ex. industrial, energy, transportation, real estate, finance) and provide a clear pathway to abate emissions through a lens of economic feasibility.
- Energy market analysis: Determine current market opportunities to support decarbonization strategies, including energy procurement analysis, emerging technology analysis, site due diligence and selection, funding and grant support, fleet transition analysis, and regulatory analysis to determine the best levers to support decarbonization.
- Energy feasibility studies: Project-specific determinations of various clean thermal and electrical energy options, including feasibility of solar, wind, landfill gas, renewable diesel and natural gas, carbon capture and storage, battery storage, digital technologies and other technology solutions. Studies also address operational and building efficiency.
- Green cloud services: Transition to green cloud operations with implementations to minimize your firm’s energy consumption, carbon emissions, and resource utilization such as AWS, Oracle, and Microsoft Azure.
- IRA tax advisory: Assess businesses and projects to determine alignment with IRA funding and provide actionable steps to qualify for available tax credits.
- Tax credit marketplace solutions: If an organization has a surplus of tax credits or seeks to purchase qualifying credits, our Ever.green clean energy product funding and tax credit marketplace provides opportunities to sell and buy tax credits that are vetted, secure and compliant with regulatory requirements.
- Green and social bond designation: Provide support with bond issuance for any type of environmental or social impact designation to improve bond pricing and placement outcomes.
*Flex capability
We can support implementation of recommendations, address gaps and otherwise provide ongoing support as an outsourced sustainability function. This includes evaluation and implementation of ESG and sustainability software solutions. This provides:
- A coordinated approach
- Depth and breadth of specialized skill sets and knowledge customized to your needs
- Increased efficiency and flexibility
