| Approx Course Duration *: | Equivalent to Approx. 1 Hour/s |
| Access to Course Content: | 18 Months from the date of enrolment |
| Qualification/s: | Focus on Principle 4 Principles and practices in ESG |
| CPD Hours: | 1 Continuing Professional Development Hours |
Principle 4 of ISO IWA 48:2024 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) is the operational heart of ESG implementation. It translates ESG intent into principles, governance practices, risk and opportunity management, materiality assessment, stakeholder engagement, and measurable outcomes.
This microcredential provides in-depth, practical guidance on applying Principle 4 — Principles and Practices in ESG — across real organisational contexts. Learners explore how ESG principles are embedded into decision-making, how risks and opportunities are identified and treated, how material impacts are assessed, and how transparency, accountability, and engagement underpin credible ESG practice.
Designed for professionals responsible for implementing, advising on, or overseeing ESG activities, this microcredential goes beyond awareness to build hands-on capability aligned with international ESG guidance.
Who this microcredential is for
This microcredential is designed for professionals actively involved in ESG implementation, governance, risk, or reporting.
It is particularly suited to:
- ESG and sustainability practitioners
- Risk, compliance, and governance professionals
- Consultants supporting ESG frameworks or disclosures
- Managers responsible for ESG strategy or execution
- Professionals involved in materiality assessments and reporting
- Those preparing for broader ESG or audit-related qualifications
This microcredential supports organisations seeking alignment with emerging global ESG disclosure standards and strengthens audit-ready, defensible ESG governance practices.
What you’ll learn
In this microcredential, you will learn how to apply the full scope of ISO IWA 48:2024 Clause 4, including:
- Overarching ESG principles such as integrity, equity, evidence-based decision-making, and continual improvement
- Identifying and managing ESG risks and opportunities using structured, value-focused frameworks
- Applying risk- and opportunity-based approaches aligned with ISO 31000 concepts
- Establishing accountability and transparency in ESG governance and reporting
- Identifying, prioritising, and engaging interested parties across the value chain
- Conducting ESG materiality assessments, including double materiality concepts
- Developing and interpreting ESG KPIs for standardised, credible reporting
- Integrating ESG insights into strategy, decision-making, and continual improvement
What you’ll be able to do
After completing the microcredential, you’ll be able to:
- Apply ISO IWA 48 Clause 4 principles confidently within organisational ESG programmes
- Identify, assess, and treat ESG risks and opportunities systematically
- Support or lead ESG materiality assessments using structured, evidence-based approaches
- Engage stakeholders in a transparent, inclusive, and defensible way
- Strengthen ESG governance through accountability and clear reporting practices
- Use ESG KPIs to track performance, inform decisions, and support disclosures
- Contribute credible ESG insights to leadership, regulators, and other stakeholders
A stackable, certified microcredential for professionals embedding ESG principles into organizational practice.
Why this clause matters: Clause 4 establishes the foundational practices that translate ESG commitments into structured, operational reality. It bridges high-level ESG principles with practical implementation, helping organizations move from intent to action.
This microcredential explores how ESG principles are integrated into governance structures, operational controls, stakeholder engagement, and performance management systems.
This microcredential contains structured lessons with integrated knowledge checks and a short-format assessment upon completion.
| Focus Area | Key Takeaways |
|---|---|
| Overarching Principles | Apply integrity, outcomes-focused thinking, equity, risk & opportunity integration, evidence-based decision-making, and maturity to embed ESG into strategy, operations, reporting, and culture. |
| Risks and Opportunities – General | Identify, assess, and manage ESG risks and opportunities across the organization and value chain using inside-out and outside-in perspectives. Align with strategic objectives and risk appetite. |
| Principles and Framework | Implement an integrated, structured, inclusive, dynamic, and continually improving ESG risk and opportunity framework supported by leadership commitment and systems thinking. |
| Risk- and Opportunity-Based Approaches | Apply a structured ESG risk cycle: establish priorities, identify risks/opportunities, evaluate likelihood and impact, treat appropriately (accept, mitigate, innovate, transfer, etc.), and monitor/report continuously. |
| Accountability and Transparency | Disclose relevant, material ESG information transparently while protecting competitiveness. Build stakeholder trust through accurate reporting and governance oversight. |
| Identification & Engagement – General | Identify interested parties and understand their legitimate interests and right to be heard. Map stakeholder relationships and influence. |
| Identification of Interested Parties | Apply structured questions to determine who is affected, who influences responsible action, and what legal or other requirements apply. Ensure fair and inclusive representation. |
| Engagement with Interested Parties | Use structured, unbiased, and proportionate engagement methods (surveys, workshops, panels, consultations). Enable two-way communication and inclusive participation. |
| Materiality – General | Identify and prioritize significant ESG impacts using credible data. Consider dependencies, severity (scale, scope, irremediable character), and avoid selective exclusion. |
| Key Concepts of Materiality | Distinguish between inside-out and outside-in impacts, financial and non-financial materiality. Apply double materiality where required (e.g., CSRD alignment). |
| Actionable Approaches to Material Impacts | Develop a transparent materiality process: engage stakeholders, use credible data, describe risks/opportunities, create a materiality matrix, and review regularly. |
| ESG Materiality Assessment | Define scope and objectives, benchmark impacts, assess and prioritize using transparent criteria, validate internally/externally, integrate into strategy and reporting. |
| KPI Measurement Framework | Establish standardized quantitative and qualitative ESG KPIs. Use profile indicators (size, income, location, sector) to enable benchmarking and comparability. |
| Further Information | Reference relevant ISO, IEC, and ESG reporting standards to support implementation and continuous improvement. |
Course details:
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Microcredential
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Approx 1 hours full-time study*
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Stackable Digital Microcredential
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Standard: IWA 48:2024 ESG
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No prerequisites required
* All ATOL courses are delivered in such a way you can work through them at your own pace, the actual time to complete the training may change depending on the individual learners' experience and/or learning style
NO PREREQUISITES