Client Success Story

Environmental Research, Data Collection, and Data Verification for a Climate Risk Assessment Platform

6000+

Companies
Covered

250K+

Data Points
Processed

100%

Source-Documented Data

Service

  • Environmental Research
  • ESG Research

Platforms

  • Client's Proprietary Climate Risk Assessment Platform
The client

A North American Investment Consulting Firm with a Climate Risk Practice

The client is a global investment consulting firm headquartered in North America that advises institutional investors, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds on portfolio construction, risk management, and asset allocation. Recently, the firm launched a dedicated climate risk advisory practice to help clients assess environmental exposure across their equity and fixed-income portfolios. Their proprietary climate risk assessment platform integrates environmental performance data — emissions trajectories, energy transition readiness, physical risk indicators, and regulatory compliance posture — to generate company-level and portfolio-level risk scores for investment decision-making.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

Environmental Data Research and Collection across 35+ Metrics

The client’s internal team of four climate analysts had built the platform around a pilot dataset of roughly 400 companies. But their institutional clients held portfolios spanning thousands of names across multiple geographies and industries. To make the platform commercially viable, the client needed structured, source-documented environmental data for 6,000+ companies across 15+ industries and three regions — and they needed it within 12 months.

Their internal team couldn’t absorb that scale. They needed an environmental research service partner with working knowledge of emissions accounting, environmental disclosure standards, and the ability to deliver datasets formatted for direct ingestion into their platform.

PROJECT CHALLENGES

Collecting Comparable Environmental Data from an Inconsistent Disclosure Landscape

The client’s climate risk assessment platform required comparable data across companies, industries, and jurisdictions, in formats suitable for direct ingestion (Excel, CSV, JSON). The reality of environmental disclosure made that exceptionally difficult.

  • Scope 3 Reporting Gaps and Boundary Inconsistencies

    Of the 6,000+ companies in scope, fewer than 40% disclosed any Scope 3 data at the time of data collection. Among those that did, reporting boundaries varied widely (some companies covered only one or two of the 15 Scope 3 categories). Since the client's platform generated peer-relative environmental risk scores, incomparable Scope 3 inputs could distort the risk ratings.
  • Unit, Methodology, and Base-Year Discrepancies

    Environmental metrics were reported in different units (like metric tons vs. short tons). Beyond units, methodological differences (to calculate emissions) created deeper comparability issues. Base years for emissions targets also varied, ranging from 2015 to 2021, making compatibility difficult. Standardizing this data without introducing errors required line-by-line scrutiny.
  • Scattered Disclosures across Multiple Document Types

    Environmental data for a single company was typically spread across four to seven documents, including sustainability reports, CDP responses, annual reports, regulatory filings, and corporate websites. For mid-cap and regional companies, resolving contradictions was harder due to less mature reporting processes and weaker internal data governance.
OUR SOLUTION

Dedicated Environmental Research Team, with Domain Experts

We assembled a dedicated team of environmental research analysts organized by domain — emissions and energy, water and waste, and environmental policy and compliance — with a QA lead overseeing cross-domain consistency. The workflow involved subject-matter experts for document identification, verification, standardization, and framework mapping.

1

Collected 35+ Metrics per Company from Primary Sources

We collected data across GHG emissions (Scope 1, 2, and 3), energy consumption and mix, water withdrawal and stress exposure, waste generation and diversion, air pollutants, and environmental targets and compliance posture. Common data sources included sustainability reports, CDP climate and water questionnaires, regulatory filings (EPA TRI, EU PRTR), annual reports, and corporate websites.

Our team located relevant disclosures across lengthy sustainability reports, CDP responses, and regulatory filings, and identified where specific metrics were reported. Analysts verified each data point against the source before entering it into the delivery dataset.

2

Resolved Contradictions with Cross-Source Verification

Each data point was cross-validated across all available sources. When discrepancies appeared, our analysts documented every variant, traced the root cause, and escalated that case with an action recommendation.

For example, a chemical manufacturer’s sustainability report disclosed Scope 1 emissions of 1.9 million tCO₂e, while its CDP response reported 2.3 million tCO₂e for the same year. The difference was traced to an acquisition in late 2022. The sustainability report counted emissions before the acquisition. The CDP submission included emissions from the newly acquired facility for the entire year. We flagged both figures with page-level citations and recommended the more complete disclosure for the client’s risk scoring.

This type of resolution was required for roughly 15% of large-cap and 25% of mid-cap companies in the dataset.

3

Derived Metrics where Disclosures Were Absent

Where companies did not disclose required metrics, we calculated derived indicators — emissions intensity ratios, energy efficiency metrics, year-over-year trajectories, and estimated data with graphs and charts. Every derived metric was assigned a tiered confidence tag (“Reported,” “Calculated,” or “Not Disclosed”) so the platform could appropriately weight data reliability in its scoring.

4

Ran a Three-Layer Quality Control Process

Every analyst’s output was peer-reviewed before entering QA. The QA lead spot-checked 10–15% of completed datasets per cycle. When patterns of errors or inconsistencies emerged, the team adjusted its approach via discussion in weekly review sessions to prevent recurrence. We also validated unit consistency, flagged out-of-range values, and caught missing source citations before delivery. Final datasets were delivered to the client in platform-specific formats (Excel, CSV, JSON) with full audit trails.

PROJECT OUTCOMES

We delivered structured, source-documented environmental data through our environmental research services, consistently meeting accuracy benchmarks and the client's 12-month coverage timeline. Following the initial engagement, the client expanded the scope to include data maintenance services with quarterly data refreshes.

6,000+ Companies Covered Environmental data collected across 15+ industries, spanning large-cap, mid-cap, and regional companies across North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific.

250,000+ Environmental Data Points Collected 35+ environmental metrics per company — covering GHG emissions (Scope 1, 2, and 3), energy, water, waste, air pollutants, and environmental targets.

100% Source-Documented Data Delivery Audit-ready datasets delivered with cited sources (report title, page number, URL, reporting year), calculation notes, and complete audit trails.

The ability to deliver audit-ready, multi-framework datasets at this scale was the key factor in our decision to expand the engagement. We could not have met our go-to-market timeline without this partnership.

- Director of Climate Risk Advisory Department

CONTACT US

Partner with Us for Scalable Environmental Research Services

If you need, audit-ready environmental data collection — from Scope 1/2/3 verification to multi-framework mapping — we can help. SunTec India delivers audit-ready environmental datasets for investment consulting firms, ESG risk rating agencies, climate tech platforms, and financial services companies worldwide. Our environmental research services are designed to scale with your coverage requirements and adapt to evolving regulatory frameworks.

Request a sample dataset to see our methodology in action, or reach out to our team to know more about our environmental or broader ESG research services.