How We Apply ESG Standards in Practice

We apply internationally recognized standards and frameworks to deliver credible ESG assurance and help partners build robust audit capability. Standards guide how assurance is planned, executed, and reported and form the backbone of both independent verification and enablement services.

Standards We Work With

Organizations are often required to align with multiple standards that serve different purposes. In our work, we distinguish between two broad categories of standards, each of which plays a different role in ESG assurance, internal auditing, and due diligence. Understanding these distinctions helps clarify scope, responsibilities, and the nature of assurance conclusions.

Performance & Responsible Mining Standards

Responsible mining performance and supply-chain standards define what responsible ESG performance looks like in mining and supply chains. We assess alignment, implementation, and evidence to provide credible conclusions and help clients meet their required assurance objectives.

Examples include:

IRMA (Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance) - a rigorous, multi-stakeholder standard for responsible mining performance.

The Copper Mark - ESG performance and due diligence for metals and supply chains.

ICMM Principles & Equivalency Frameworks - help align and cross-recognize assurance work with other frameworks.
RMI - Responsible Minerals Initiative
TSM - Toward Sustainable Mining

Management Systems & Reporting Frameworks

These frameworks define how organizations manage ESG risk and communicate it. Our assurance work evaluates whether governance, controls, systems, and disclosures are implemented effectively, consistently, and supported by reliable evidence.

Examples include:

Management system standards (ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001)
Reporting frameworks (ESRS, GRI, SASB - where relevant)

Applying Standards in Practice

In many engagements, these categories overlap. For example, performance standards may rely on management systems for implementation, while reporting frameworks depend on both performance and systems to produce reliable disclosures.

In every engagement we clarify:

Which standards are relevant to your objectives
How they interact with each other
The assurance approach and evidence requirements
What credible conclusions mean for your stakeholders

Assurance Governance Standards

Our assurance work is governed by recognized international assurance standards, which establish requirements for independence, ethics, evidence, professional judgment, and reporting.

We refer to these standards to guide the assurance lifecycle, including:

Engagement acceptance and independence
Risk-based planning and materiality assessment
Evidence collection and evaluation
Documentation and quality control
Clear and defensible assurance conclusions

ISO/IEC 17021-1

Specifies requirements for bodies providing audit and certification of management systems, covering impartiality, competence, consistency, and credible certification processes to ensure trust in accredited conformity assessment activities.

ISAE 3000

Establishes requirements for performing and reporting on assurance engagements other than audits or reviews of historical financial information, emphasizing independence, professional judgment, evidence, and transparent assurance conclusions.