ESG Pathway Structure and Domains (Environmental, Social, Governance)
The ESG Pillar is built around three interconnected domains that reflect how responsible, resilient, and ethical organisations operate:
🌿 Environmental – How your organisation manages its impact on the natural world
👥 Social – How you protect and support people, wellbeing, and ethics
🧭 Governance – How you lead with transparency, accountability, and integrity
These three domains form the foundation of the ESG Pathway — and together they define what good ESG practice looks like in an aerospace and defence supply chain context.
What ESG Really Means
The concept of ESG — Environmental, Social, and Governance — has emerged as a global framework for assessing the non-financial performance and sustainability of organisations. It represents a shift in how businesses are evaluated, moving beyond short-term profitability to include long-term value creation, ethical responsibility, and resilience.
The definitions and thematic focus areas within the ADS ESG Pathway are aligned with internationally recognised standards and disclosure frameworks, including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). These frameworks inform the structure of the Pillar and ensure its relevance for both regulatory compliance and strategic ESG integration.
🌿Environmental
The Environmental domain concerns how organisations interact with the natural environment, and how they manage their ecological footprint over time. In alignment with GRI Standards (300 series) and SASB’s Environment-related topics, the ESG Pillar focuses on material issues such as:
Greenhouse gas emissions (Scopes 1, 2, and where appropriate Scope 3)
Energy consumption and intensity
Waste generation and circularity
Water use and conservation
Pollution, biodiversity, and ecological impact monitoring
This domain reflects the growing demand for transparent, quantifiable environmental impact reporting — not only to meet regulatory expectations (e.g. SECR, CSRD) but to engage with voluntary disclosures and sustainability targets set by customers and investors. Environmental maturity is about moving from reactive compliance to proactive environmental stewardship and innovation.
👥 Social
The Social domain addresses the way organisations treat people — within the workforce, the wider community, and throughout the value chain. The ESG Pillar draws from GRI Standards (400 series) and SASB’s Human Capital and Social Capital dimensions, focusing on:
Health and safety performance and culture
Wellbeing initiatives and mental health support
Equality, diversity, and inclusion
Ethical labour practices, both internally and across suppliers
Employee engagement and organisational culture
This domain recognises that people are not only a vital resource but also a central ethical responsibility. In sectors like aerospace and defence — where trust, safety, and human capital are paramount — strong social maturity demonstrates a commitment to fairness, inclusion, and long-term workforce sustainability.
🧭 Governance
The Governance domain is concerned with how ESG considerations are embedded into leadership, policy, performance monitoring, and accountability structures. Drawing on GRI Standards (200 series) and SASB’s Leadership and Governance topics, the ESG Pillar places emphasis on:
ESG policy and strategy formulation
Board-level and senior leadership engagement
ESG data collection, verification, and reporting
Transparency in performance, decisions, and disclosure
Internal controls and ethical oversight
Governance maturity ensures that ESG is not a peripheral or symbolic exercise, but rather integrated into the organisation’s core decision-making and risk management systems. It reflects the capacity to measure, govern, and improve ESG performance with discipline and transparency.
What the ESG Pillar Focuses On
Each domain is broken into specific themes, which form the basis of the assessment questions, scoring model, and improvement guidance.
Environmental Themes
Greenhouse Gas Emissions & Energy Use – Tracking, reducing, and reporting your carbon and energy footprint
Waste & Circularity – Managing materials, reducing waste, and embracing circular principles
Water & Resources – Conserving water and minimising use of finite or high-impact resources
Environmental Oversight – Policy development, monitoring impacts, and continual improvement
Social Themes
Health & Safety – Ensuring safe working conditions and a proactive H&S culture
Wellbeing & Inclusion – Supporting mental and physical wellbeing, and fostering a fair, inclusive workplace
Ethical Employment – Promoting responsible employment practices across your workforce and suppliers
People-Focused Culture – Embedding ethical conduct and people-first values into everyday business
Governance Themes
ESG Strategy & Policy – Developing ESG goals, policies, and internal alignment
Data, Disclosure & Reporting – Monitoring ESG performance and communicating clearly
Accountability & Oversight – Embedding ESG responsibility into leadership and business systems
Engagement & Transparency – Building trust through openness with stakeholders and supply chain partners
These domains and themes work together to give a complete picture of your ESG maturity. They are assessed using a shared 0–3 scale, which helps you benchmark, improve, and communicate your progress.
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