Benefits of working with ESG consultants

“Partnering with expert ESG consultants transforms sustainability teams from overwhelmed implementers into empowered leaders.”

If you’re leading a sustainability team, you face increasing pressure to enhance your organisation’s ESG performance. You need to manage complex reporting demands, evolving compliance standards, and limited internal resources. How do you prioritise, stay ahead of regulatory changes, and deliver real impact without overwhelming your team?

Partnering with experienced consultants can be the way forward for your team. If you treat ESG consultants as strategic partners, they will expand your team’s capabilities, provide specialist knowledge, streamline operations, and unlock measurable value.

How can your sustainability team work effectively with ESG consultants to overcome challenges and accelerate progress? What can you learn from our real-life experiences in partnering with our clients’ teams?

Understanding the role of ESG consultants in sustainability teams

What they bring to the table

ESG consultants provide deep, specialised expertise that internal teams may still be building. For example, when your sustainability team faces the challenge of complying with complex, evolving regulations like CSRD reporting or preparing an EcoVadis assessment, external ESG consultants accelerate progress by performing detailed materiality and gap analyses tailored to your sector and geography. Instead of spending months deciphering frameworks, your team benefits from consultants’ up-to-date knowledge to swiftly identify the most critical ESG risks and opportunities that matter to your stakeholders and business model.

Consultants also bring proven tools and techniques, tailoring their approach based on their experience assessing ESG maturity across clients in similar sectors. This enables them to act effectively according to where your company stands on its sustainability journey.

An example is the Nexio Projects Sustainability Maturity Curve, which identifies five stages:

Stage 1 / Complying

Stage 2 / Accelerating

Stage 3 / Optimising

Stage 4 / Leading

Stage 5 / Purpose-Driven

Understanding your company’s maturity stage helps consultants deploy targeted interventions — whether that’s conducting focused energy efficiency audits, designing strategic supplier engagement programs, or delivering customised capacity-building workshops — all aimed at advancing your sustainability management system effectively.

Read our article that explains the sustainability maturity curve closer.

Complementing internal capabilities

A key strategic crossroads for many ESG teams is deciding whether to handle reporting and strategy development entirely in-house or augment with consultants. Engaging ESG consultants strategically means your team can jump-start foundational work such as baseline carbon footprint calculations or sustainability policy drafting, using the consultants’ ready-to-adapt templates and playbooks. For example, consultants might provide a customised data collection framework automating supplier emissions reporting that your internal teams can then operate independently after initial setup, dramatically increasing efficiency.

This complementary approach is not about outsourcing ownership but amplifying your team’s effectiveness and capacity. Instead of diverting resources to re-invent processes or training from scratch, you leapfrog maturity stages and spend more time on strategic engagement and improvement initiatives that require internal leadership—turning consultants into true partners in building your ESG capability.

Key benefits of working closely with ESG consultants

Improving strategic clarity and materiality focus

Consultants facilitate stakeholder engagement sessions to help your team prioritise the most relevant ESG topics that affect business value and reputation. This can be done through kick-off meetings where consultants dive deep into your business’s unique needs, complemented by conducting gap analyses or materiality assessments.

These approaches identify current performance gaps and determine which ESG issues are most significant to your stakeholders and business strategy. By combining these tools, your team can focus resources efficiently and communicate with clarity and impact to investors, customers, and other key audiences.

Streamlining ESG data collection and reporting

Consultants can greatly enhance your team’s data management capabilities. For instance for carbon data management, ESG consultants can implement dedicated digital platforms that not only automate emissions data collection but also streamline reporting workflows. These platforms typically feature:

Access to standardised and verified data sets for accurate calculations

Integration capabilities for automatic data capture from various internal and external sources

Robust governance features including audit trails and user access controls

Pre-configured reporting aligned with relevant regulatory and voluntary frameworks

These tools are designed to scale across complex organisations, reducing the risk of errors and freeing sustainability teams to focus on strategic analysis rather than data handling. The accuracy and usefulness of these systems depend on quality data input and ongoing consultant guidance.

Enhancing risk management and regulatory readiness

Consultants assist in building governance frameworks and processes that continuously monitor the rapidly changing ESG regulatory landscape. Examples include the EU’s Omnibus Directive, which updates and expands ESG disclosure requirements, and EFRAG’s revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) datapoints that increase granularity and scope of required data. In the US, California’s climate disclosure laws, SB 253 and SB 261, set aggressive new mandates for mandatory annual greenhouse gas emissions reporting (starting with Scope 1 and 2 emissions in 2026) and biennial climate risk disclosures for large companies operating in the state.

These evolving regulations demand that sustainability teams move from reactive compliance to proactive, integrated ESG risk management, embedding continuous monitoring and adaptable governance into routine business processes. Consultants guide teams through this complex environment, keeping them informed and ready to meet current and upcoming requirements efficiently.

Strengthening stakeholder engagement and communication

An ESG consultant can help your team craft transparent, compelling sustainability reports that blend quantitative results with engaging narratives, thereby improving trust among investors, customers, employees, and other stakeholders.

They achieve this by:

Aligning reporting with recognised frameworks such as GRI, SASB, and ESRS to ensure clarity and credibility

Using materiality assessments to focus on what matters most to stakeholders and the business

Setting clear, measurable ESG goals backed by transparent performance data

Applying robust data quality controls and independent assurance for credibility

Incorporating storytelling and visuals to make data relatable and demonstrate real-world impact

Engaging stakeholders early and continuously for feedback, building a dynamic, two-way communication process

This approach transforms ESG reports from mere compliance documents into strategic communication tools that deepen stakeholder relationships and enhance corporate reputation.

Practical tips for effective collaboration

Defining clear roles and expectations: Set specific objectives upfront, such as improving an ESG rating, completing a carbon footprint assessment, or training staff, with measurable deliverables to maintain alignment and momentum.

Building strong Communication channels: Establish regular check-ins and workshopping opportunities to foster collaboration, trust, and agility throughout the partnership.

Leveraging consultants for training and skill development: Maximise value by integrating capacity-building into consulting engagements, so your team gains the knowledge and confidence to manage ongoing ESG challenges independently.

How Nexio Projects supports sustainability teams across ESG topics

Nexio Projects is your full-service sustainability partner, helping you navigate complex challenges and drive ambitious climate action.

Named one of the top 10 boutique ESG and sustainability strategy consultancies worldwide by Verdantix, Nexio Projects brings clarity to all aspects of your sustainability journey. From reporting to strategic implementation, our team of sustainability experts is committed to helping you advance your purpose effectively.

We partner closely with sustainability teams to provide tailored expertise, practical tools, and capacity-building support across three core ESG areas, all reinforced by our outsourced sustainability management service, which offers dedicated consultant support for ongoing impact.

Ratings & certifications

As a strategic partner of EcoVadis since 2018 and an official B Corp Way partner since 2019, Nexio Projects brings unique advantages in guiding companies through these prestigious certification journeys. We help mid-market organisations build robust processes to achieve and maintain high EcoVadis ratings, offering continuous improvement plans, detailed gap analyses, and performance benchmarking. For B Corp certification, our certified B Leaders support your entire journey—from readiness assessment and documentation to submission and recertification—tailoring sustainable impact strategies aligned with your organisational values.

Reporting

Nexio Projects supports sustainability teams in navigating the complexity of ESG reporting requirements across multiple frameworks. Our experts provide practical guidance and technical assistance to ensure compliance with evolving standards such as CSRD, TCFD, and CDP. We help embed transparent, accurate, and forward-looking disclosures into your business practices, strengthening stakeholder confidence and risk management.

Climate strategy

We assist teams in co-developing actionable net-zero and decarbonisation roadmaps that align internal functions and suppliers, enabling measurable climate action aligned with standards like the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Additionally, our climate risk specialists equip organisations to assess and report on climate-related risks, embedding resilience into governance and operational decision-making.

Outsourced sustainability management

For teams seeking augmented capacity or expert guidance across these ESG domains, Nexio Projects offers outsourced sustainability management. This flexible service provides a dedicated consultant embedded within your organisation, partnering with your internal team to develop, implement, and monitor sustainability strategies—ensuring continuity, efficiency, and impact.

Conclusion

If you are leading an ESG or sustainability team challenged by growing complexity and demand, collaborating with expert consultants transforms how you deliver impact. Through trusted partnerships that bring strategic insight, operational solutions, and skill-building, your team can evolve from overwhelmed implementers into proactive, empowered ESG leaders. Nexio Projects stands ready to support your journey with bespoke, practical, and scalable solutions.

Subscribe to our newsletter for monthly ESG updates!

ESG teams’ practical guide to working with consultants