Founded in 2021 by a team of certified ESG analysts, sustainAX exists to close the research gap global providers leave behind.
01 | THE PRINCIPLE
Risk exposure minus mitigation equals residual risk.
We don’t ask “does this company have a sustainability policy.” We ask “given what ESG risks this company is exposed to, how well is that risk actually addressed — and what risk remains.”
01
Exposure
What risks apply
−
02
Mitigation
How well addressed
=
03
Residual rating
What risk remains
A rating is never a single claim — it is the remainder after exposed risk and mitigating evidence are assessed together.
02 | MATERIALITY, NOT A GENERIC CHECKLIST
173 risk areas, and only the ones that actually apply.
Materiality is assessed per company, across different sectors — so a shipping company and a software company are never measured against the same risk exposures.
Distinct materiality profiles for each business model
Double materiality — outside-in and inside-out risk, both counted
03 | WHERE THE GAP SHOWS UP
Built also for the companies with no public ESG trail.
Large caps disclose. Most companies in your credit book don’t. Our materiality framework is built to extract signal from limited disclosure — not to assume its absence means zero risk.
Global provider coverage → visible disclosure gap → materiality-based assessment
04 | HOW EVIDENCE BECOMES A RATING
Every assessment is evidence-based.
We evaluate risk mitigating value based on stated commitments, operational practice, track record, and disclosure depth — rated on a consistent 0–100 scale, the same way for every company.
05 | CONTROVERSIES, COUNTED SEPARATELY
Controversies aren’t forgiven by good policy.
An active, unresolved controversy weighs on the risk rating regardless of what the company says it’s doing about it — until it’s actually closed.
Strong policy
+
Active unresolved controversy
−
A controversy remains separate until resolved — it does not disappear inside policy language.
06 | FROM RATING TO REPORT
Every rating comes with the reasoning behind it.
Drill from the headline ESG score down to type, area, category, topic, and the individual data point — full audit trail, every time.
Illustrative ESG residual rating
64/100
Environmental
71
Social
58
Governance
63
Type
Area
Category
Topic
Data point
07 | BUILT FOR AUTOMATION, NOT REPLACED BY IT
Expert logic, encoded — not replaced.
Our methodology started as expert judgment. Automation and AI now apply that same judgment consistently at scale — with deterministic rules, human oversight, and full explainability at every step.
( See the
methodology
applied to your portfolio. )
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