Global ESG Monitor 2025: Adoption vs. Integration in Risk Management

The latest Global ESG Monitor (GEM) report unveils trends in the adoption of Double Materiality Analysis (DMA) among DAX companies. Conducted in December 2025, the study highlights that 87% of DAX companies now employ DMA, marking a significant 37 percentage points rise from last year. However, integration into risk management systems reveals notable gaps.

The GEM study analyzed 151 DAX companies, concluding that while DMA helps identify crucial risks, many firms still fall short in aligning their assessments with stakeholder expectations. The chemical sector illustrates such discrepancies, with many firms failing to classify pollution as a material issue, despite contrary external evaluations.

Structural barriers include mismatched time horizons between nature-related risks, which often manifest long-term and traditional short-term risk systems. Improved integration would entail translating these risks into measurable early indicators.