Case Studies

We support clients like you across a wide range of services. Selected case studies below provided an example of how we're helping others today.

Selected Client Results

EcoVadis Score Improvement From Low Score to Silver Award

Client: A contract apparel manufacturer supplying three major U.S. retail brands

The client scored 32/100 on its EcoVadis assessment, and two key retail customers had flagged the score as a condition for contract renewal. We conducted a gap analysis across all four EcoVadis themes and found the client's weakest area was Labor & Human Rights (28/100), driven by missing policies and no documented grievance mechanism, followed by thin documentation in Sustainable Procurement.

Over a 2-month sprint, we drafted and implemented 9 new policies, built a supplier code of conduct with a signed-acknowledgment tracking system covering 85% of tier-1 suppliers, and organized supporting evidence into EcoVadis's required documentation format.

The client's re-assessment score rose to 61/100, achieving Silver medal status and placing them in the top 30% of manufacturers assessed in their industry. Both retail customers confirmed contract renewal within 60 days of the new score being published.

California SB 253 & SB 261 Compliance Submission

Client: A U.S.-headquartered consumer goods company with over $1.2B in annual revenue

The client fell squarely within SB 253's reporting threshold and SB 261's climate risk disclosure requirement but had under 90 days of internal runway before assuming both obligations applied for the upcoming reporting cycle. We conducted an applicability assessment confirming the client's reporting triggers, built the Scope 1 and 2 inventory to the assurance-ready standard SB 253 requires, and produced a climate-related financial risk report meeting SB 261's requirements, drawing on TCFD's framework as the law specifies.

We coordinated with the client's existing third-party assurance provider to ensure the Scope 1 and 2 data would pass limited assurance review on the compressed timeline.

Both submissions were filed ahead of the applicable deadlines, with full supporting documentation retained in the event of a CARB information request. The client's general counsel noted the engagement resolved their single largest open compliance risk of the year.

CDP Climate Change Questionnaire Response

SBTi Target Validation & Approval

Client: A global packaging company facing investor pressure for CDP disclosure

Client: A mid-market food and beverage company under retailer pressure to set science-based targets

The client had submitted CDP responses for two prior years but scored a D, well below sector average, due to incomplete governance disclosures and no quantified emissions reduction targets.

We led the full questionnaire response, restructuring the client's answers around CDP's scoring methodology, adding board-level oversight documentation, a completed TCFD-aligned risk matrix, and verified Scope 1 and 2 data with third-party assurance.

We also helped the client set and disclose an interim 2030 emissions reduction target for the first time, directly addressing a scoring criterion that had cost them points in both prior cycles. The client's score improved from D to B in a single reporting cycle, moving them into CDP's "Management" band. Their investor relations team reported the improved score was directly cited in two subsequent ESG-focused investor calls.

The client's largest retail customer required SBTi-validated targets as a supplier scorecard criterion, but the client had no emissions baseline and limited internal capacity to navigate the submission process.

We built the Scope 1, 2, and 3 baseline (61,000 tCO2e total, with Scope 3 at 91% driven by agricultural inputs), modeled near-term targets against the 1.5°C pathway, and prepared the full SBTi submission package, including target-setting rationale and supporting data documentation. We set a near-term target of 42% absolute reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2032 and a Scope 3 supplier engagement target covering 67% of purchased goods emissions by 2027.

The targets were validated by SBTi on the first submission, avoiding the resubmission delays common to roughly a third of first-time filers. The client retained its retail contract and now references SBTi validation in its own supplier-facing marketing materials.

Climate Risk & Scenario Analysis (TCFD-Aligned)

Client: A regional commercial real estate portfolio owner (38 properties, 4 climate zones)

The client's insurers and lenders had begun requesting climate risk disclosures, but the client had no structured view of physical or transition risk exposure across its portfolio. We conducted a scenario analysis using RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 pathways alongside an orderly and disorderly transition scenario, assessing physical risks (flooding, extreme heat, wildfire) and transition risks (carbon pricing, energy code changes) at the asset level through 2050.

The analysis identified 6 properties with material flood risk exposure by 2040 under RCP 8.5, representing an estimated $23M in potential asset value at risk, and quantified a transition cost exposure of $1.8M annually under a $75/ton carbon price scenario. We delivered a prioritized capital planning roadmap addressing the highest-risk assets first, which the client incorporated into its 5-year capex plan.

The completed analysis satisfied both a lender's covenant requirement and formed the basis of the client's first TCFD-aligned disclosure.

Client: A mid-sized specialty chemicals manufacturer (~$210M revenue, 4 U.S. facilities)

The client had never conducted a full greenhouse gas inventory and was fielding an increasing number of customer requests for emissions data with no reliable way to answer them.

We built a GHG inventory aligned with the GHG Protocol, covering Scope 1 (direct combustion and process emissions), Scope 2 (location- and market-based), and Scope 3 across all 15 categories, prioritizing purchased goods, upstream transportation, and business travel where data quality was highest. The baseline year inventory identified 48,600 tCO2e in total emissions, of which Scope 3 accounted for 82%, concentrated in purchased raw materials.

We stood up a repeatable data collection process using utility bills, ERP spend data, and supplier surveys, cutting the following year's inventory turnaround from an estimated 3 months to under 4 weeks. The client now uses the inventory as the foundation for its supplier engagement program and customer disclosure requests.

GHG Inventory & Scopes 1–3 Measurement

ISSB-Aligned Sustainability Report

EcoVadis Score Improvement: Environment & Ethics Focus

Client: A privately held industrial equipment manufacturer preparing for a private equity transaction

Client: An electronics contract manufacturer with 6 assembly sites across Southeast Asia

Ahead of a planned recapitalization, the client's sponsor required an investor-grade sustainability report but had only ever published a two-page CSR summary. We conducted a materiality assessment against IFRS S1 and S2, mapped existing data against the four core pillars (governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets), and identified 11 data gaps requiring new collection processes, including Scope 3 categories and climate-related financial risk exposure.

The resulting report was the client's first to include quantified climate scenario impacts and forward-looking metrics, delivered on a 10-week timeline ahead of the data room deadline. Diligence advisors flagged the report as "materially more complete" than 90% of comparable mid-market targets they had reviewed that year.

The client has since adopted the ISSB framework as its standing annual reporting structure.

The client held a Silver medal (58/100) but was losing bid opportunities to Gold-rated competitors, with a specific weakness in Environment (44/100) and Ethics (49/100) sub-scores tied to energy data gaps and an outdated anti-corruption policy. We implemented site-level energy and waste tracking across all 6 facilities, quantified a 12% reduction opportunity in energy intensity per unit produced, and rebuilt the client's ethics program with a whistleblower mechanism, updated anti-bribery policy, and documented board-level oversight.

We also compiled third-party certifications (ISO 14001 at 4 of 6 sites) that had never been submitted as supporting evidence in prior assessments. The client's overall score improved to 71/100, achieving Gold medal status within a single assessment cycle. The client credited the improved rating with unlocking two new RFP opportunities worth a combined $14M in potential annual revenue.

A mid-sized industrial distributor without an in-house sustainability function

The client was fielding a growing stream of ESG-related requests, customer questionnaires, and RFP sustainability sections but had no dedicated staff to manage them, leaving requests to fall to whoever had time that week. We embedded a fractional sustainability expert on a weekly retainer, providing consistent point-of-contact support to respond to customer ESG questionnaires, RFP disclosure sections, and ad hoc data requests from sales and procurement teams.

Over the first 12 months, the retainer supported responses to 34 customer sustainability questionnaires and 8 RFPs with sustainability scoring criteria, with average turnaround dropping from over 3 weeks to 4 business days.

The engagement also built out a standing library of reusable disclosure language and data, cutting the time required for each subsequent response by roughly 60%. The client has since renewed the retainer for a second year and expanded scope to include quarterly board-level ESG reporting.

Fractional Sustainability Expert: Retainer Support

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Submission

Client: A consumer packaged goods company selling into Oregon, Colorado, and California

The client's packaging portfolio triggered EPR obligations in three states with different reporting formats, fee structures, and eco-modulation criteria, and the client had no consolidated view of its packaging data across product lines.

We built a packaging inventory covering 140 SKUs, classified materials against each state's reporting taxonomy, and calculated projected producer responsibility fees under each program, identifying a $340,000 annual fee exposure the client's finance team had not previously modeled.

We prepared and filed the required registrations and initial reports with each state's Producer Responsibility Organization ahead of deadline, and flagged 6 packaging formats where material substitution could reduce eco-modulated fees by an estimated 18%.

The client passed its first-year filings without any deficiency notices across all three states. Packaging engineering has since adopted our fee-modeling tool to evaluate EPR cost impact on new product development.

Sedex Questionnaire & SMETA Readiness

CSRD Report Completion

Client: A private-label food manufacturer supplying two major UK grocery retailers

Client: A European subsidiary of a U.S.-based industrial manufacturer (in-scope under CSRD's phased timeline)

Both retail customers required an active Sedex membership with a completed Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) as a condition of the vendor relationship, and the client's existing SAQ was over two years out of date with several sections incomplete.

We refreshed the client's Sedex SAQ in full, addressing gaps in the Labor Standards and Health & Safety sections that had gone unanswered in the prior submission, and prepared the client for a SMETA 4-pillar audit by conducting a pre-audit mock assessment.

The mock audit surfaced 14 non-conformances, of which we resolved 11 prior to the scheduled third-party audit, including missing working-hour records and an incomplete fire safety documentation set. The client's SMETA audit closed with zero critical non-conformances and only 3 minor findings, each with corrective action plans accepted on first submission. Both retail customers confirmed continued vendor approval within 30 days of the completed audit.

The client's U.S. parent had limited familiarity with CSRD and underestimated both the double materiality assessment and the assurance-readiness requirements until roughly 6 months before the filing deadline. We ran a double materiality assessment across all 10 ESRS topical standards, engaging 22 internal and external stakeholders, which identified 7 material topics requiring full disclosure, including workforce, pollution, and resource use and circular economy.

We then built out the disclosure content and underlying datapoints against ESRS requirements, closing 63 individual data point gaps identified during the initial readiness assessment, and prepared the report for limited assurance review.

The completed report was filed on schedule and passed limited assurance with only 2 minor observations, both remediated before final sign-off. The parent company has since asked us to extend the same double materiality methodology to two additional EU subsidiaries entering scope next year.

Sustainable Supply Chain Program Standup

Client: A mid-market home goods retailer with over 400 active suppliers and no formal supplier sustainability program

The client faced growing customer and investor pressure to demonstrate supply chain oversight but had never assessed supplier sustainability risk beyond basic compliance paperwork.

We designed a tiered supplier risk framework segmenting all 400+ suppliers by spend and category risk, prioritizing the top 60 suppliers representing 78% of total spend for deeper engagement. We built a supplier code of conduct, a self-assessment questionnaire rolled out to priority suppliers, and a scorecard methodology combining self-reported data with third-party risk indicators for labor and environmental compliance. In the first engagement cycle, 84% of priority suppliers completed the assessment, and we flagged 9 suppliers for corrective action plans based on scorecard results, with 7 resolved within 90 days.

The client now reports supplier program metrics quarterly to its executive team and has made program participation a condition of new supplier onboarding.