Double Materiity Assessment (DMA) has become a central concept in frameworks for environmental, social and governance (ESG), especially under recent regulatory initiatives such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Although the implementation of DMA will only be mandatory for many companies in the coming years, there are already discussions at the EU committee in Brussels about simplifying the process to facilitate acceptance. As an Early Adopteur, Trinasolar shares insights about the goal and benefits of DMA, arguing a strong argument for full transparency and reflects on important lessons from the rollout of the DMA matrix of 2024.
Why is DMA relevant now?
DMA is already required for large EU entities for public interest (cakes) such as financial institutions for their financial reports for FY 2024. Stop-the-clock Directive adopted by the EU in April 2025, the assessment will also be mandatory for large EU companies, SMEs mentioned in the next three to four years on EU-regulated markets and non-EU companies. Businesses of renewable energy throughout Europe are now starting to formalize their DMA strategies and processes.
What is double materiality?
Double Materiality is expanding the traditional concept of materiality in financial reporting. Traditional (single) materiality focuses on how ESG problems influence the financial performance of a company, while double materiality looks at both:
- Financial materiality – how ESG risks and opportunities influence the company
- Materiality – how the company influences society and the environment
This double perspective offers a more holistic view of sustainability risks and opportunities – crucial for industries in the heart of the energy transition.
Why was DMA introduced?
DMA bridges the gap between:
- Investor Requirements for ESG-related risk data information,
- Stakeholder Expectations regarding corporate accountability
- The urgency of worldwide climate and social challenges.
In particular the EU Green Deal & CSRD beds DMA to ensure that companies are not only responsible for their risks, but also for their role in climate and social issues. Stakeholder Druk has increased ESG from a “fun to-have” to key expectations in business behavior and reporting.
What risks helps DMA tackle?
An assessment of double materiality helps organizations to tackle a wide range of interconnected risks. It imposes strategic and operational risks, such as challenges in the field of climate transition (such as carbon prices or stranded assets), physical threats of extreme weather and vulnerabilities of Supply Chain related to human rights and biodiversity. It also reduces reputation and legal risks, because stakeholders can hold companies responsible for negative effects, and stricter ESG – public making standards make Greenwashing a legal liability.
In the field of compliance, not performing the correct assessments of double materiality among frameworks such as the CSRD can lead to non-compliance, fines or uttered importance of stakeholders. From an investor and market perspective, poor impact public making can limit access to capital, because investors increasingly integrate ESG data in decision-making.
Finally, it deals with systemic and social risks by encouraging coordination to broader goals such as the Paris Agreement and the sustainable development goals of the UN, recognizing the role of companies in tackling worldwide issues such as climate change, inequality and ecological relegation.
Simplification versus rigorous tracking and complete transparency
Although DMA is not yet mandatory for many companies of renewable energy in Europe, Brussels is already considering simplifying compliance – for example by reducing some annual assessment and reporting requirements to every 5 years. But can industries such as solar and energy storage yield shortcuts?
At Trinasolar we believe that the renewable industry should set a good example. Proval that sustainability and profitability can go hand in hand is essential. Promoting the transition to a Net-Zero-seecage is part of our DNA. That is why we have promised to trace level 5 for risky raw materials and full DMA-Zowel to strengthen our company and build trust among customers and stakeholders.
Experiences from the DMA implementation in 2024
Since 2012, we have provided extensive ESG reporting and formalized double materiality matrix in the Sustainability Report 2024, tailored to Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and upcoming EU standards. The SSE Sustainability Reporting standards that require companies to perform a double materiality assessment will be mandatory from 2025 and have been voluntarily applied by Trinasolar for the current year.
We have followed the steps of “Identification assessment analysis confirmation” to perform the materiality assessment, combining insights from surveys of stakeholders and internal management interviews. This process made the assessment and confirmation of the impact and the importance of problems of both the “financial materiality” and the “Impact -Materiality” dimensions possible. The materiality assessment results were then integrated into the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) process. The company has managed questionnaires for the assessment of the impact of materiality for both internal and external stakeholders, managed online surveys and ultimately collected 338 valid questionnaires. Top management and management representatives of company departments were invited to participate in surveys of financial materiality assessment. After discussions and interviews with external experts and business management, Trinasolar completed the results of the analysis of the analysis of ESG 2024.
The full matrix and many examples of the implementation are included in our most recent 2024 Sustainability report. They are available to support partners and companies who want to formalize their sustainability programs and DMA breakdown.
Important pillars and performance
The most important pillars of the company’s initiative are compliance and risk management, green life cycle management, corporate governance and work practices, as well as innovation of clean energy.
Examples for the results that have already been achieved in the program include a focus on sustainable product design with measurements such as:
- Reduction of the footprint of the environment: Less energy and water consumption, less waste, higher efficiency with fewer materials, PFAS-free PV modules
- Raw material optimization: Reduction of silver content, reduction of lead content, thinner glass, fewer plastics by replacing lubrics with a double glass focus
- Quality and reliability for a longer life cycle of the product: Dual-glass structure, climatic adaptation to system level, higher lifespan yield yield
- Circularity: Easier separation of materials, leading RD & I in closed-run recycling approaches
Responding to one of the most crucial sustainability criteria of our time, greenhouse gas emissions, makes Trinasolar a lot of efforts to reduce our CO2 footprint at the operational level. The on-site renewable electricity generation of 223,794 MWh, a reduction in the intensity of the greenhouse gases of –65.55% for modules and -36.44% for cells, the reduction of integrated energy consumption intensity of cell -39.51% for cells and -40.19% for modules and a reduction in the intensity of water consumption -86.85% for cells and 67.68% the success of the Produlesmat) again
Trinasolar has also become the first company in the solar industry that its factories have successfully certified by third parties against the environmental, social and governance (ESG) standard of the Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI).
We are convinced that DMA manufacturers encourage them to think beyond compliance and financial risk, and in the direction of strategic ESG leadership – help them anticipate instructions, reduce impact and building more sustainable business models.
Pia Alina Lange, serves as EU Public Affairs & Policy Director for Trinasolar in Brussels. She is also a member of the board of the Solar Stewardship Initiative (SSI), is actively involved in the Global Alliance for Sustainable Energy and is a member of the Board of Solarpower Europe. Lange is also on the board of the Global Solar Council.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author, and do not necessarily reflect it by PV -Magazine.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to work with us and reuse part of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
