Panorama of data management tools for environmental resources
Published November 19, 2024
- Data & AI
- Sustainability
Panorama of data management tools for natural resources and materials value creation
Context and targets
In response to growing regulatory requirements and the proliferation of tools for measuring the impacts and risks associated with environmental issues, this panorama is designed to provide an overview of the ecosystem and help organizations navigate through the range of tools available.
Today, companies face crucial challenges in assessing and managing their environmental impacts and risks. They must respond to growing regulatory pressures, such as the CSRD, the Green Taxonomy, Pillar 3 ESG and Solvency 2 (for the banking and insurance sectors), as well as to the increasingly demanding expectations of investors and other stakeholders. These pressures can have major consequences on their activities: transforming the business model to respect planetary limits or improving traceability and control of the supply chain are just some of the challenges that all economic players must now face.
Perimeter
In response to these challenges, a number of tools are emerging to help companies manage their sustainable performance and draw up transition plans. Firstly, there are general ESG reporting tools that can address all themes. There are also a number of specialized carbon reporting tools. These two types of tools are not included in this panorama, but are the subject of forthcoming Wavestone publications.
This panorama focuses exclusively on natural resources and materials recovery, which represent a relatively less mature field of ESG analysis on the market. Many solutions are being developed to help companies gain better control of their environmental data, whether this relates to their own activities or to their value chain. These solutions adopt different positioning, methodologies, levels of accuracy and data coverage, as well as functionalities.
In front of this proliferation, the aim of this panorama is to decipher the environmental data market by offering a structured analysis of the various solutions available. It covers BtoB tools for assessing risks and/or impacts in the fields of climate change (physical risks only, excluding carbon), biodiversity, water resources and the circular economy.
Methodology
Based on documentary research (using Wavestone’s Research & Knowledge Center and additional research) and through exchanges with tool providers, our experts have listed around a hundred solutions, according to 4 analytical axes responding to the analysis framework and requirements of the CSRD:
The themes covered are aligned with 4 of the 5 CSRD environmental standards (ESRS – European Sustainability Reporting Standards).
Tools can either assess the company’s impact on natural resources, or the risks associated with natural resources for companies, or both, or even focus specifically on product traceability from an environmental point of view.
These tools can be applied in a variety of ways. They can collect / propose data at the level of a product, a site (offices, factories, power plants) or a company’s value chain (suppliers and origin of materials).
Each tool has been analyzed according to its ability to address multi/trans-sectoral issues, or to deal with problems specific to certain sectors (e.g. financial or industrial).
Key findings
The figures presented are specific to the study carried out and to the 100 tools listed in this panorama. They do not, therefore, reflect the current market as a whole.
- 45% of the tools studied deal with 2 to 4 of the 5 ESRs studied (ESR1 Climate change – focus on physical risks; ESR3 Aquatic and marine resources; ESR4 Biodiversity and ecosystems; ESR5 Resource use and circular economy).
- The majority (55%) of tools focus on the company’s impact on natural resources, while just under a quarter address the risks associated with natural resources, or cumulative risks and impacts. Only 3% deal with environmental traceability.
- 43% of the 100 tools studied are suitable for all business sectors, although there are some specialized tools for the banking/insurance sector (14%) or for industry and production (8%).
Trends
Since 2015, there has been a sharp increase in the number of tools for measuring impacts and risks on natural resources. This increase is directly linked to a need to strengthen companies’ sustainable performance management.
Faced with growing customer demand for compliance, some tools are adapting to comply with new environmental regulations such as the CSRD or ISO standards, in order to facilitate data reporting and commitments.
Tools for measuring impacts and risks on resources are increasingly choosing to specialize in a particular sector of activity (financial, industrial or agricultural sectors, for example) in order to target certain emerging needs in specific fields.
Tools are using cross-methodologies and increasingly employing Artificial Intelligence to aggregate data and perform complex calculations to obtain more accurate and efficient results.
The panorama in one view
Panorama of data management tools for natural resources and materials valorization
Panorama of data management tools for natural resources and materials valorization.
Around a hundred companies are listed under 5 categories:
- E1 : Climate change
- E3: Aquatic resources and marine products
- E4: Biodiversity and ecosystems
- E5: Use of resources and circular economy
- Multi-thematic
Following analysis of the 103 tools listed, a limited sample of 17 tools was selected for detailed fact sheets, based on the following criteria:
Media coverage: the tools selected enjoy a certain amount of media coverage (press, trade shows, etc.) and have references with companies of similar size and in similar sectors to those of our customers.
Thematic coverage: tools have been selected to be representative of the various themes covered by the radar.
Sectors: all sectors were covered, but particular attention was paid to the financial and industrial sectors.
