CMS Green Trail

Modular step-by-step plan that supports ESG compliance – digital access, industry-specific assessment and individual recommendations for your ESG strategy

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in the business world. Companies that neglect environmental, social and governance criteria or sustainability management are struggling to access conventional lenders and find (international) investors. It is also often a deal breaker for customers, business partners and not least for job applicants. Liability risk also increases as more and more ESG criteria are prescribed by law. 

Despite the huge importance of ESG, businesses often do not know specifically how to approach and address it, how well or poorly they are currently doing, where there is some leeway, and where urgent action is needed. 

CMS developed the Green Trail to help clients identify their action areas and risk areas in an objective and structured way and to quickly identify solutions that deliver tangible improvements.

The Green Trail offers a range of modules adapted to the various departments in your company, plus an end-to-end module. CMS’s ESG experts assist you in making your selection. We then support you throughout the Green Trail process and advise you on implementing the resulting recommendations to ensure sustainable business practices. The Green Trail is aligned with international gold standards such as ISO26000, GRI, SASB and EcoVadis, which are also used when drafting legislation.

ESG compliance requirements are becoming stricter and you ask yourself how to efficiently create corresponding structures for your organisation or adapt existing set-ups? We can help – with our CMS Green Trail as your company’s step plan for achieving ESG compliance.

Julia Fünfgeld, Associate, CMS Germany

This provides companies with a basis for formulating their ESG strategy, for ESG reporting and for ESG compliance. The Green Trail is designed as a step-by-step plan which introduces you to the core issues that are essential for professional sustainability management. The plan also helps you to prevent greenwashing and bluewashing. There are three steps as follows: 

Step 1: Online initial assessment with automated result (free of charge or in conjunction with training at a fixed price) 

• Lean, digital, professional CSR/ESG audit
• Questions relating to different aspects of professional sustainability, plus a general section, which can be accessed separately or collectively
• Condensed questionnaire with Yes/No questions (e.g. Has your company conducted a materiality assessment of the sustainability issues most relevant to its industry and business sector?)
• Initial ESG assessment: automated initial appraisal with individual weighting for each industry
• Focus on issues that have a legal dimension
• Content based on professional international standards (ISO 26000, GRI, SASB, EcoVadis) which are used by rating agencies and lawmakers

Step 2: Individual, prioritised recommendations for action to achieve legal quick wins, plus possible options in connection with your ESG assessment (free of charge)

Step 3: Optional support by CMS when implementing the individual recommendations.

The CMS Green Trail delivers the following added value:

• Efficient, cost-effective way to get started with sustainability management and ESG compliance
• Clarity about where your company stands with regard to sustainability/ESG 
• Professional assessment of current strengths and weaknesses
• Suggestions for quick wins to improve your sustainability rating, CSR audit outcome or ESG due diligence result
• Modular approach: all stages of the process explained step-by-step
• Focused and lean

As a product for digital ESG assessment, the CMS Green Trail is primarily aimed at companies that do not yet have a professional sustainability management system in place but need to implement one soon due to increased pressure: 

• Mid-market companies / SMEs without professional sustainability management
• Departments that need to improve their sustainability (e.g. HR, Legal, Compliance and Procurement)
• Investors (PE, VC, M&A) who wish to receive an initial assessment of their targets’ sustainability risks
• Brands aiming to avoid greenwashing and bluewashing risks
• Start-ups seeking to protect the value of their business

The CMS Green Trail can be used across many different industries. The digital module includes a specific automated initial assessment for a number of sectors:

• Consumer Goods & Retail
• Health Care
• Lifesciences
• Automotive
• Manufacturing & Engineering
• TMC
• Real Estate
• Professional Services

The follow-up appraisal in Step 2 also takes sector-specific risk profiles into account. 

The digitalised Green Trail questionnaire is based on international gold standards for sustainability, enabling the product to be used for your operations in other countries as well.

English and French versions are available. A Spanish-language version for Latin America is being prepared.