ESG & Impact Advisory

How We Support

Cross-border ESG interpretation

From 2026 onwards, China’s Corporate Sustainability Disclosure Standards (CSDS) apply primarily to Chinese listed companies and large enterprises, but their implications extend across China-linked supply chains and counterparties. Chinese and internationally based businesses engaging with these entities are increasingly required to provide ESG-related data, align with disclosure expectations, or face heightened scrutiny in procurement, financing, and partnership decisions.

At the same time, businesses are not navigating CSDS in isolation. They must also contend with international frameworks such as ISSB, ESRS, and CBAM, where mandatory requirements coexist with voluntary disclosures, adding layers of complexity across reporting, carbon exposure, and regulatory compliance, often with direct implications on cost structures and profitability.

We advise Chinese and ASEAN enterprises on how these frameworks intersect, helping management teams interpret requirements, prioritise action, and maintain alignment for market access, financing, and stakeholder confidence.

CBAM and carbon exposure advisory

The European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) entered its transitional phase in October 2023, requiring importers to report the embedded emissions of specified carbon-intensive goods on a quarterly basis. From 2026 onwards, CBAM will become fully operational, with importers required to purchase CBAM certificates reflecting the carbon cost of these emissions.

While the legal obligation sits with importers into the European Union, the commercial impact extends across the supply chain. Exporters are effectively required to provide emissions data, as importers must either rely on supplier disclosures or default values, which are often higher and increase CBAM costs. This creates direct pressure on pricing, supplier selection, and contract terms, particularly where emissions cannot be reliably measured or verified.

CBAM is not evolving in isolation. Other jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, are introducing similar carbon border measures, while existing carbon pricing regimes continue to expand. This creates additional complexity for businesses operating across multiple markets, particularly in how emissions are measured, reported, and costed.

We advise export-oriented businesses on how to assess carbon exposure, interpret CBAM requirements, and prioritise practical actions, ensuring alignment without over-investing in unnecessary systems or misaligned data efforts.

Impact strategy and materiality alignment

As part of the broader sustainability movement, regulators, investors, and large multinational corporations recognize that ESG factors can influence the long-term financial performance of a company and hence should be integrated into decision-making processes and disclosed to stakeholders. They approach their reporting principles based on Double Materiality Assessment - how sustainability issues affect their business (financial materiality) and how their business impacts people and the planet (impact materiality).

These approaches shape how ESG priorities are defined across supply chains and service relationships. It is in the interest of Non-listed Chinese and ASEAN enterprises, as downstream participants, to align with these ESG factors. Misalignment can lead to repeated data requests, inconsistent disclosures, pricing pressure, or loss of contracts.

We advise companies on how to define and adopt ESG priorities that are material to their business context, ensuring alignment with regulatory, customer, and financing expectations, while avoiding unnecessary effort on non-critical areas.

Reporting readiness and governance advisory

ESG disclosure is transitioning from voluntary reporting to structured, mandatory regimes, requiring companies to define, standardise, and evidence how ESG data is generated and reported. Frameworks such as CSDS, ISSB, and ESRS set expectations not only on what is disclosed, but how data is defined, structured, and supported.

In practice, this requires clear data ownership, consistent methodologies, and coordinated processes across functions. Many organisations face challenges in aligning internal teams, establishing reliable data flows, and ensuring that disclosures are consistent, verifiable, and recognised by regulators, investors, and counterparties.

We advise on reporting readiness and governance structures, helping companies establish clear accountability, define data standards, implement reporting workflows, and strengthen management oversight to meet evolving disclosure expectations with credibility and control.

Green finance positioning

Financial institutions are increasingly integrating ESG considerations into lending, investment, and risk assessment decisions. Access to capital is influenced not only by financial performance, but also by the credibility, consistency, and transparency of ESG disclosures.

Companies may face challenges in aligning their ESG profile with financing expectations, particularly where disclosures, metrics, and narratives do not meet investor or lender requirements.

We advise on how ESG performance is interpreted by financial institutions, helping companies position for sustainable financing, preferential lending terms, and effective investor engagement.

Executive advisory and training

ESG considerations are increasingly a board-level responsibility, requiring informed decision-making across strategy, risk, and capital allocation. However, evolving frameworks and cross-border requirements can make it difficult for leadership teams to maintain clarity.

Without a practical understanding of ESG implications, organisations risk fragmented decision-making and misalignment across functions.

We provide targeted executive advisory and training, equipping boards and senior management with the knowledge required to navigate ESG at a strategic level.