A sustainability report that holds up when someone checks it
Anyone can publish a report. The question is what happens when an assurance provider or a procurement team starts pulling on the numbers. We build reports backwards from that moment: data trail first, narrative second, design last.
What a sustainability report has to do
A sustainability report sets out an organisation's environmental impacts, social performance and governance arrangements for a reporting period, using indicators defined by a recognised standard. Financial statements answer what the company earned; a sustainability report answers what producing those earnings cost and who it affected.
A report worth the effort does three jobs at once. It discharges an obligation, where one exists. It opens access to finance and to markets, because banks, development finance institutions and corporate buyers increasingly make ESG data a condition of doing business. And it works as a management tool: the data gathered on the way to publication is usually the first consolidated view a board has had of its energy, supply chain and workforce. The value is in being evidence-based and unexaggerated, which is also what an assurance provider asks for first.
Which standard applies to you
Standard selection is the first strategic decision, and the answer is usually a combination rather than a single framework. These four cover almost every brief we receive.
| Framework | Issued by | Status | Materiality basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| GRI | Global Reporting Initiative | Voluntary, used worldwide | Impact materiality |
| ESRS | European Commission, with EFRAG as technical adviser | Mandatory for companies in scope of the CSRD | Double materiality |
| IFRS S1 and S2 | ISSB | Voluntary until a jurisdiction adopts them | Financial materiality |
| TSRS | The KGK, in Türkiye | Mandatory above the KGK thresholds | Financial materiality, following IFRS S1 and S2 |
Two practical notes. GRI and the ISSB standards draw on largely the same underlying data, so publishing both in one report costs far less than preparing two. And the ISSB baseline is picked up jurisdiction by jurisdiction: the United Kingdom published UK SRS S1 and S2 on 25 February 2026, endorsed from the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards and voluntary while the government and the FCA decide who must apply them.
Buyer-facing platforms sit alongside all of this. CDP, EcoVadis and the UN Global Compact communication on progress ask for data you already hold, in a different shape. Collecting from scratch for each platform is the most expensive mistake we see.
Our approach: six steps
Every report passes through the same six steps. The timetable is set by how much of step four already exists.
- Scoping and current state Data maturity, existing systems and which obligations actually bite, then the reporting period, sites and subsidiaries in scope. Skipping it is the most common cause of a mid-project scope change, which is the most common cause of a missed deadline.
- Standard selection Chosen against your obligations and your audience, not against fashion. It determines every template and every disclosure that follows.
- Materiality assessment Stakeholder input and business impact analysis produce the material topics. The ESRS require a double materiality assessment; IFRS S1 and S2 and TSRS work from financial materiality. Done properly, it stops the report becoming a brochure about everything.
- Data collection and verification Templates for energy, water, waste, scope 1, 2 and where relevant scope 3 emissions, workforce, health and safety and governance. Returns are checked for consistency and calculation errors before they reach a page.
- Drafting and design Data becomes the disclosures the standard requires, plus leadership messages, targets and case narratives. Design is not decoration: it decides whether the report is read.
- Compliance check, translation and publication A GRI content index or TSRS disclosure list reconciled line by line, editing, an English version where needed, and publication supported with an investor briefing and a web page.
A first report is not expected to have a perfect data set. Transparent method, an honest gap statement and clear targets are worth more than confident claims with nothing behind them.
What we deliver
Depending on scope, an engagement includes some or all of the following.
- ESRS reporting for groups in scope of the CSRD, and value chain data for their suppliers.
- Reporting in accordance with the GRI Standards, including the content index.
- TSRS 1 and TSRS 2 reporting for a subsidiary in Türkiye that falls within the KGK scope.
- Environmental and social documentation for lenders, which we cover on our environmental and social due diligence page.
- CDP responses, science-based target submissions, biodiversity, social impact and SROI reports.
- Materiality assessments, including double materiality assessments under the ESRS.
- Report design, data visualisation and graphics production.
- Translation and localisation between English and Turkish.
- Publication and stakeholder communication support.
What drives the cost
The honest answer to "what does a sustainability report cost" is: it depends on scope. A quote given without seeing the scope is a guess or an invoice waiting to grow. Six factors set it.
- Standard and scope. A voluntary GRI report and a combined TSRS, GRI and CDP programme are different pieces of work.
- Sites and subsidiaries. Every entity added to a consolidated boundary adds collection and verification effort.
- Data maturity. A company already metering energy and calculating emissions starts months ahead of one that is not.
- Technical components. A carbon footprint, a double materiality assessment or scenario analysis each need specialist input.
- Design and translation. Publication-ready design and a second language change the budget.
- Assurance. If independent assurance is planned, preparation and the provider's fee are added.
Once those six are settled we quote a fixed price against a fixed schedule, same day after the scoping call. Timing matters as much as budget: build the data routine during the reporting year, consolidate at year end, publish in the second quarter.
Why Etki Fabrikası
Our team is four consultants and their project teams, with more than twenty years of advisory experience across banking, mining, energy, food and retail. In the past five years we have worked with over forty corporate brands on more than ninety projects, and since 2021 we have prepared the first sustainability report for fifteen companies. A first report is the most instructive turn in this work: the data infrastructure is built, priorities are argued and the organisation sees its footprint in numbers, all for the first time.
Two examples from the field. At the Muratdere mining project in Bilecik we ran a programme reaching from a biodiversity action plan to community development. For Derimod, we designed a sustainable fashion entrepreneurship hub that moved sustainability out of communications and into the business model.
We treat reporting as strategy, data, narrative and design together, not as a document exercise. The priority is not a report nobody reads, but an instrument that eases access to finance and answers what your customers are asking.
Frequently asked questions
Is a sustainability report mandatory?
It depends on where you are incorporated and how large you are. In the EU, companies in scope of the CSRD report under the ESRS, and the ISSB standards are being adopted jurisdiction by jurisdiction elsewhere. A group with a subsidiary in Türkiye has a separate local obligation under TSRS. Everyone else reports voluntarily, which usually means reporting because a customer, a bank or a lender asked for the data.
How long does a sustainability report take?
Between two and six months, depending on scope, the standard and how mature your data is. Data collection is the longest step for a first report, because the routine has to be built before anything can be collected. With an experienced team, even a first report fits inside one reporting cycle.
Does a sustainability report need assurance?
Reports published under the CSRD are subject to limited assurance. Voluntary reports are not, but even limited assurance changes how an investor or a lender reads them. What matters in practice is being assurance-ready: every figure traceable to a source, every method written down, every gap disclosed rather than hidden.
We are a European group with a subsidiary in Türkiye. Who reports what?
Two obligations can run at once. Your group may consolidate the Turkish entity into its own reporting, while that entity separately falls under TSRS because of its local size. The data sets overlap but the boundaries, the materiality basis and the filing calendars do not, so map both before either team starts collecting.