ESG and Corporate Sustainability Strategy

Many organisations publish sustainability reports and ESG ratings, yet their strategy, capital plans and incentives remain unchanged. Investors, lenders, regulators and customers increasingly notice the gap. This programme helps managers turn ESG from a reporting exercise into a strategy: choosing the issues that matter, setting credible targets, funding delivery and disclosing progress that stands up to scrutiny.

04 - 08 October 2026 Location

Barcelona

5 Days

USD 5,500

Corporate sustainability efforts often stall for predictable reasons. ESG sits in a small team with no authority over operations or budgets. Materiality assessments produce long lists instead of priorities. Targets are announced before the baseline data exists. Initiatives are chosen for visibility rather than business value, and reporting frameworks are treated as the strategy itself. The result is effort without direction, and growing exposure to claims that cannot be supported.

This programme treats ESG as part of business strategy. It moves through five stages: understanding what is driving expectations and how they affect value, identifying the material issues and stakeholders, building a strategy with targets and a transition plan, embedding it in governance, operations and the supply chain, and measuring and disclosing performance in a way that is decision-useful and credible.

Built on recognised practice. The programme references the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (IFRS S1 and IFRS S2) issued by the ISSB, the GRI Standards, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, the GHG Protocol, the Science Based Targets initiative, the TNFD recommendations, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. They are used as tools for strategy and disclosure, not as checklists.

Decisions this programme improves. Which ESG issues deserve management attention and investment; which targets to commit to and on what timescale; how to prioritise initiatives by impact, cost and risk; how to assign accountability and link ESG to incentives; which reporting frameworks to follow; and when a public claim is ready to be made.

How it is delivered. Twenty hours across five sessions, built around one running case: a diversified national company asked by its board, lenders and main customers to present a credible sustainability strategy within a year. Participants run a materiality assessment, prioritise initiatives, draft targets and a roadmap, and prepare a board summary.

In-house option. For organisations, the programme can be tailored to your own sector, national sustainability agenda, existing reports and data, and delivered for strategy, finance, operations and sustainability teams together so that the strategy is owned beyond one department.

Who Should Attend

Strategy and sustainability leaders: heads and managers of strategy, sustainability, ESG and corporate social responsibility

Finance and risk managers: finance directors, investor relations, risk and internal audit managers

Operational leaders: heads of operations, HSE, procurement and supply chain

Corporate communications and government relations managers responsible for reporting and stakeholder engagement

Public sector and state-owned enterprise managers implementing sustainability objectives

Objectives

Explain how ESG factors affect risk, cost of capital, market access and long-term value in their sector

Distinguish ESG, corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability, and position each correctly

Map stakeholders and their expectations, and plan structured engagement with the most influential groups

Conduct a materiality assessment that separates financial and impact materiality and produces clear priorities

Set measurable targets with baselines, interim milestones and owners, including emissions targets

Prioritise sustainability initiatives using business cases that combine financial, environmental and social value

Design governance for ESG, including board oversight, management roles and links to incentives

Build ESG requirements into procurement and supplier management

Select key performance indicators and data controls for reliable ESG reporting

Assess reports and public claims against recognised frameworks and identify greenwashing risk

Course Outline

Why ESG Is Now a Strategic Issue: Drivers, Risks and Value

From corporate social responsibility to ESG and corporate sustainability: what has changed
Drivers: investors, lenders, regulators, stock exchanges, customers and employees
How ESG affects revenue, cost, risk and access to capital
ESG ratings: how they work and their limitations
National sustainability agendas and transition plans as context for business strategy
Climate, nature and social risks as business risks

Deciding What Matters: Stakeholders and Materiality

Stakeholder mapping and engagement methods
Financial materiality and impact materiality: the ISSB and GRI perspectives
Running a practical double materiality assessment
Human rights and labour issues in operations and supply chains
Turning a materiality matrix into a short list of priorities
Common mistakes in materiality assessments

Building the Strategy: Ambition, Targets and Roadmap

Linking sustainability priorities to corporate strategy and business plans
Setting baselines and targets; science-based approaches to emissions targets
Decarbonisation levers: energy efficiency, renewable energy, process change and supply chain
Transition plans: content, credibility and funding
Business cases for sustainability initiatives, including carbon pricing assumptions
Social value and community investment that supports the business

Making It Happen: Governance, Operations and Supply Chain

Board oversight, committee roles and management accountability
Linking ESG performance to incentives without rewarding the wrong outcomes
Embedding ESG in enterprise risk management and capital allocation
Sustainable procurement and supplier assessment
Sustainable finance: green bonds, sustainability-linked loans and lender expectations
Change management and building internal capability

Measuring and Reporting: Credible Disclosure and Claims

Key performance indicators and ESG data management
GHG emissions accounting: Scopes 1, 2 and 3
Reporting frameworks compared: IFRS S1 and S2, GRI and ESRS
Data controls, digital reporting tools and external assurance
Greenwashing risk and the substantiation of public claims
Action plan: next steps for your organisation's ESG strategy

Competencies

ESG strategy development and business integration

Stakeholder mapping and engagement

Double materiality assessment

Target setting and transition planning

Sustainability business cases and initiative prioritisation

ESG governance and accountability design

Sustainable procurement and supplier assessment

ESG performance measurement and data control

Sustainability disclosure and greenwashing risk management

Barcelona

Explore professional training in Barcelona across Elite Academy’s full range of disciplines. The city’s position as a globally connected Mediterranean city with an active business and professional environment makes it an attractive international setting for scheduled courses and programs arranged to your preferred topic and dates. Elite Academy can deliver its full range of professional training programs in Barcelona, Spain. Because the city is a globally connected Mediterranean city with an active business and professional environment, it provides a strong international environment for participants from organizations as well as individual professionals. The courses shown on this page represent the programs currently scheduled in Barcelona; they do not limit what can be delivered there. If your preferred course or date is not listed, you can request any program from our portfolio to be arranged in Barcelona, subject to scheduling and delivery requirements.

ESG and Corporate Sustainability Strategy

Who Should Attend

Objectives

Course Outline

Why ESG Is Now a Strategic Issue: Drivers, Risks and Value

Deciding What Matters: Stakeholders and Materiality

Building the Strategy: Ambition, Targets and Roadmap

Making It Happen: Governance, Operations and Supply Chain

Measuring and Reporting: Credible Disclosure and Claims

Competencies

Barcelona

Related Topics

Carbon and GHG Accounting and Management

Business Process and Change Management

Strategic Planning and Execution