# ESGweise

> Senior-led ESG advisory, assurance, and capability-building firm based in Dubai. Specialises in GCC institutions — banks, utilities, oil & gas, heavy industry, transportation, family business holdings, and retail.

ESGweise Global LLC is a Dubai-based ESG advisory firm founded by Sumit Agarwal in 2023. It serves GCC corporate, banking, and government clients with services spanning ESG strategy, sustainability reporting, climate risk and transition planning (TCFD/IFRS S2), carbon and GHG, nature and biodiversity, ESG rating improvement, sustainability assurance (ISAE 3000, ISSA 5000), social, energy and chiller audits, ESIA, ISO internal audit and certification readiness, ISO and HSE management systems, business excellence (EFQM), business process transformation, and corporate training.

The firm operates four practice verticals:
1. Sustainability Advisory (esgweise.com)
2. Capability Building (esgweise.com/training/)
3. Financial Risk Advisory (riskweise.com)
4. Software Platform — ESGweise One (one.esgweise.com)

## Founder

- [Sumit Agarwal](/about/sumit-agarwal/) — Founder & CEO. 17+ years across utility-scale solar EPC, carbon markets, ESG advisory and assurance, and banking risk. PMP, GRI, TCFD, MSCI ESG, SCR credentialed. Named in the Gulf Intelligence Top 100 Middle East "Energy Addition" Sustainability Voices 2026.

## Services

Grouped as the site navigation groups them.

### Sustainability & Climate

- [Strategy](/services/strategy/) — ESG strategy, CSR & social impact strategy, ESG digitalisation, business process reengineering
  - [Double Materiality](/services/double-materiality/) — impact and financial materiality assessed together, stakeholder engagement, IRO register, thresholds agreed with finance and risk. IFRS S1 applies financial materiality only; double materiality comes from the European standards
- [Reporting](/services/reporting/) — GRI, IFRS S1/S2, ESRS, BRSR sustainability reports; GHG inventory; ESIA. GCC disclosure regimes: ADX, DFM, Tadawul / Saudi Exchange, QSE
- [Carbon](/services/carbon/) — Net-zero roadmaps, SBTi target setting and validation, [sustainable transportation & fleet decarbonisation](/services/sustainable-transportation/), carbon credit project development under VERRA / Gold Standard / CDM
- [IFRS S1/S2 & Climate Risk](/services/ifrs-s1-s2-climate-risk/) — IFRS S1 and S2 gap assessment and disclosure; climate risk and NGFS scenario analysis; financed emissions baselines under PCAF; transition plans built to the IFRS Foundation guidance of June 2025, disclosed under IFRS S2 paragraph 14(a) where one exists
- [Nature & Biodiversity](/services/nature-biodiversity/) — Biodiversity baseline and habitat survey, critical habitat assessment (IFC PS6), mitigation hierarchy and offset design, marine and coastal impact assessment, TNFD nature-related disclosure
- [ESG Rating Improvement](/services/esg-rating-improvement/) — MSCI, Sustainalytics, S&P CSA, EcoVadis programmes

### Assurance, Audit & Certification

- [Assurance & Audit](/services/assurance/) — ESGweise issues independent limited and reasonable assurance opinions under ISAE 3000 and ISSA 5000, and GHG verification opinions under ISO 14064-3. Also assurance readiness, for companies whose assurance comes from their auditor or another provider; never both on the same subject matter and period. Supplier ESG audits; ESIA and social impact assessment
  - [Social Audits](/services/social-audits/) — pre-assessments against SA8000, SMETA and amfori BSCI criteria, buyer-commissioned supplier audits, corrective action closure. The official scheme audits are carried out by firms those schemes recognise
  - [Energy Audits](/services/energy-audits/) — EN 16247 and ISO 50002, at ASHRAE Level 1, 2 or 3 depth, with measures ranked by payback
  - [Chiller & District Cooling Audits](/services/chiller-audits/) — plant efficiency in kW per refrigeration tonne, part-load operation, low delta T, approach temperatures, and the building side of district cooling connections
- [ISO Internal Audit](/services/iso-internal-audit/) — Independent internal audit across ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 50001, 22301 and 27001, satisfying the clause 9.2 impartiality requirement
- [ISO Certification](/services/iso-certification/) — Certification readiness, certification body selection, and Stage 1 and Stage 2 audit support. ESGweise is not a certification body; certificates are issued by accredited bodies

### Systems & Excellence

- [ISO Implementation](/services/iso-implementation/) — ISO 14001, 50001, 45001, 9001, 14064, 22301 management systems; standalone energy audits
- [HSE Systems](/services/hse-systems/) — Integrated ISO 45001 and ISO 14001 management systems, contractor HSE, incident management, permit to work, and HSE performance data for reporting
- [Business Excellence](/services/business-excellence/) — EFQM maturity assessment on RADAR logic, Dubai Quality Award and Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award readiness, government excellence programmes. Delivery team includes accredited EFQM assessors
- [Business Process Transformation](/services/business-process-transformation/) — Enterprise process repository, business process re-engineering, process digitalisation into ERP and workflow systems
- [Sustainable Transportation](/services/sustainable-transportation/) — Fleet decarbonisation roadmaps, electrification and alternative fuels, Scope 1 and 3 transport emissions under the GHG Protocol, GLEC and ISO 14083

## Industries

- [Banking & Financial Services](/industries/banking-financial-services/) — CBUAE Climate Risk Principles, NGFS scenarios, ICAAP-ESG bridges, IFRS S1/S2, PCAF financed emissions
- [Energy & Utilities](/industries/energy-utilities/) — Power, water, district cooling
- [Oil & Gas](/industries/oil-gas/) — OGMP 2.0, EU Methane Regulation, zero routine flaring, OGCI alignment, decommissioning ESG
- [Heavy Industry & Manufacturing](/industries/heavy-industry-manufacturing/) — ASI, ResponsibleSteel, EU CBAM, Scope 3 supplier programmes
- [Transportation & Logistics](/industries/transportation-logistics/) — IMO MEPC, FuelEU Maritime, fleet electrification
- [Family Business & Holdings](/industries/family-business-holdings/) — Multi-entity governance, Sharia-compliant green finance

## Training

- [Training catalogue](/training/) — 9 practice areas, 100+ programmes delivered across 30+ GCC institutions. Kirkpatrick L1-L4 measurement model.

## Contact

- Email: contact@esgweise.com
- Founder direct: sumit@esgweise.com
- Phone / WhatsApp: +971 58 507 5373
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/esgweise
- Office: Dubai, UAE — Meydan Free Zone

## Key insights — GCC ESG regulation

- [UAE Climate Law (Federal Decree-Law 11 of 2024)](/insights/uae-federal-decree-law-11-2024/) — designation trigger and the 30 May 2026 status-adjustment deadline
- [The UAE National MRV System and IEQT](/insights/uae-mrv-platform-moccae-ieqt-ghg-reporting/) — how to register and actually report emissions on the MOCCAE platform
- [Tadawul ESG Disclosure Guidelines (Saudi Arabia)](/insights/tadawul-saudi-exchange-esg-disclosure-guidelines/) — Saudi Exchange ESG reporting; Vision 2030 and Saudi Green Initiative context
- [ESG in Qatar: QSE & QFMA](/insights/esg-in-qatar-qse-qfma-disclosure/) — Qatar Stock Exchange ESG guidance, QFMA Governance Code 2025
- [Demystifying ADX ESG Disclosure](/insights/demystifying-adx-esg-disclosure-everything-you-need-to-know/) — Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange ESG framework
- [DFM and ESG Reporting](/insights/dubai-financial-market-dfm-and-esg-reporting-a-comprehensive-overview/) — Dubai Financial Market ESG disclosure
- [Kuwait makes ESG reporting mandatory](/insights/kuwait-mandatory-esg-reporting-boursa-cma/) — the 30 June 2026 Boursa Kuwait deadline
- [GCC central banks on climate risk, compared](/insights/gcc-central-banks-climate-risk-compared/) — how the six GCC regulators differ

## Key insights — IFRS S1/S2 and ISSB adoption

- [IFRS S1 and S2 in Qatar](/insights/ifrs-s1-s2-in-qatar-what-listed-companies-must-know/) — ISSB standards reaching the Gulf
- [IFRS S2 for banks](/insights/ifrs-s2-for-banks-financed-emissions/) — climate disclosure for the financial sector
- [IFRS S2 does not require you to have a transition plan](/insights/ifrs-s2-does-not-require-a-transition-plan/) — paragraph 14(a) requires disclosure of a plan *if one exists*; it does not mandate having one. This is the commonest error in published commentary on the standard
- [IFRS S2 arrives in Jordan](/insights/jordan-ifrs-s2-ase20-banks-disclosure/) — what ASE20 banks must disclose from FY2026

## Key insights — climate transition planning

- [Who owns transition plan guidance now: TPT, IFRS and GFANZ](/insights/who-owns-transition-plan-guidance-now/) — the Transition Plan Taskforce closed in October 2024 and its material transferred to the IFRS Foundation, which published its own guidance on 23 June 2025. GFANZ restructured on 31 January 2025 and dropped the Paris-alignment membership requirement
- [How a bank builds a climate transition plan](/insights/how-a-bank-builds-a-transition-plan/) — eight steps, nine to fifteen months, with the financed emissions baseline as the schedule driver
- [Is a transition plan actually required in Jordan or the GCC?](/insights/transition-plan-required-jordan-gcc-regulators/) — CBJ Regulations No. 2 of 2025 require climate risk management, not a transition plan
- [Financed emissions and PCAF](/insights/financed-emissions-pcaf-gcc-banks/) — a bank's largest footprint

## Key insights — SBTi

- [SBTi FINZ: the transition window now runs to July 2027](/insights/sbti-finz-transition-window-july-2027/) — financial institutions can choose between the Near-Term Criteria and FINZ v1.0 until at least the end of July 2027. SBTi extended this from December 2026 in February 2026
- [What FINZ asks of banks on fossil fuel finance](/insights/sbti-finz-fossil-fuel-policy-gcc-banks/) — a fossil fuel transparency policy, an immediate end to project finance for new fossil projects, and an exit from financing oil and gas expansion by 2030
- [SBTi near-term and net-zero targets for corporates](/insights/sbti-corporate-near-term-vs-net-zero-targets/) — Corporate Net-Zero Standard v1.3, September 2025
- [Can oil and gas companies set SBTi targets?](/insights/sbti-oil-and-gas-companies-targets-paused/) — not at present. SBTi has paused commitments and validations from the fossil fuel sector, and paused its Oil and Gas Standard in April 2025, with re-scoping from 2027
- [Which SBTi sector guidance applies to you?](/insights/sbti-sector-guidance-which-applies/) — buildings, transport, steel, cement, maritime, FLAG and others, with versions
- [SBTi FLAG: land and agriculture emissions](/insights/sbti-flag-emissions-land-agriculture/) — why Gulf food importers are in scope through the value chain

## Key insights — methane, the EU Methane Regulation and OGMP 2.0

- [What is the EU Methane Regulation, and why does it matter?](/insights/what-is-the-eu-methane-regulation/) — Regulation (EU) 2024/1787, in force 4 August 2024
- [Who does the EU Methane Regulation actually impact?](/insights/eu-methane-regulation-who-is-impacted/) — the obligation sits on the EU importer but reaches the producer, and the trigger is contracts signed **or renewed** after 4 August 2024
- [The 1 January 2027 import deadline](/insights/eu-methane-regulation-2027-import-deadline/) — importers must demonstrate MRV equivalence, or OGMP 2.0 Level 5 with verification
- [Methane and OGMP 2.0: the basics](/insights/what-is-ogmp-2-0-methane-basics/) — the UNEP framework and its five reporting levels
- [OGMP 2.0 Level 5 and EU import equivalence](/insights/ogmp-2-0-level-5-eu-import-equivalence/) — the bar is Level 5, not membership and not Level 4
- [Why EU methane rules and OGMP 2.0 matter for the UAE](/insights/eu-methane-regulation-ogmp-uae/) — UAE to EU gas trade inside the contract trigger, and where the remaining work sits

## Key insights — carbon markets and nature

- [What are carbon credits?](/insights/what-are-carbon-credits/) — a complete guide
- [Carbon credit quality and integrity: ICVCM and VCMI](/insights/carbon-credit-quality-integrity-icvcm-vcmi/)
- [Top carbon credit registries compared](/insights/top-carbon-credit-registries-compared/) — Verra, Gold Standard, ACR, CAR, Puro.earth
- [TNFD explained](/insights/tnfd-nature-related-disclosure-gcc/) — nature-related disclosure for GCC companies
- [IFC Performance Standard 6](/insights/ifc-performance-standard-6-biodiversity-critical-habitat/) — biodiversity and critical habitat

## Optional

- [Insights](/insights/) — 160 long-form articles on UAE/GCC ESG regulation, climate risk, sustainability assurance, carbon markets and methane MRV
- [Case Studies](/case-studies/) — anonymised engagement examples
- [News & achievements](/news/) — announcements, speaking engagements, awards and media coverage, each linked to its source
- [Credentials](/about/credentials/) — frameworks, standards, accreditations
- [Editorial policy](/editorial-policy/) — sourcing, attribution and conflicts of interest