Chair “Double Materiality”

Scientific project

The concept of Double Materiality (DM), along with its associated concepts of Simple Materiality and Impact Materiality, has recently emerged as a major and highly debated issue in sustainable reporting and finance, as well as in the broader integration of ESG criteria into economic and financial decision-making. The European Union has decided to orient the integration of its extra-financial standardization work according to this vision (EFRAG, 2021), establishing it as a principle of sustainability communication in the European Sustainability Reporting Standard (ESRS 1 – CE, 2022, p.10). Additionally, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), established in 2021 by decision of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, advances its own interpretation of Double Materiality closely resembling Simple Materiality. This results in a fundamental opposition between regulatory and standardization developments in sustainability reporting on the side of the European Union and the ISSB. This difference has implications in terms of information to be produced by companies and alignment of the economy with ecological issues, as well as geopolitical implications in terms of the construction and imposition of international rules that countries will adopt in the future on sustainability reporting.

The three main research axes of the Chair are as follows:

Axis 1: Scientifically study the concept of Double Materiality (hereinafter referred to as DM), which involves:

• Contributing to the conceptual and operational exploration of DM;
• Approaching this exploration from a strongly transdisciplinary perspective (notably connecting ecological sciences, bioeconomy, and management/accounting);
• Facilitating dialogue and collaboration between scientists and practitioners (including accounting standard setters), through research and development programs, seminars, papers, teachings, or other relevant means.

Axis 2: Mobilize all fields that have already explored certain aspects of DM to advance in structuring tools for use in DM, which involves:

• A systematic review of available tools and instruments for addressing DM.

Axis 3: Structure and manage the data necessary for DM, which involves:

• Collaborating with European organizations to define appropriate databases;
• Exploring how accounting can utilize this new data;
• Designing operational devices for managing this data