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Partnering With Wolf for a Sustainable Future: BayCoast Bank’s Climate Materiality & Gap Assessment

April 7, 2025

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Sustainability has become a crucial element for long-term success, offering benefits such as cost reduction, risk management, regulatory compliance, and a better competitive edge. It also plays a significant role in attracting talent, improving brand reputation, and strengthening relationships with stakeholders.

With issues like carbon emissions, resource use, and community engagement at the forefront, understanding which sustainability factors impact an organization’s value is essential for making informed decisions.

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BayCoast appreciates the support provided by Wolf’s Climate Sustainability team throughout this project. This was a collaborative effort by the bank’s project team and Wolf to highlight climate matters most relevant to the BayCoast’s stakeholders and value, forming the foundation of a sustainability program that is the right size for our organization.”

Gary Vierra

SVP & Chief Risk Officer , BayCoast Bank

Identifying Key Sustainability Risks & Opportunities: BayCoast Bank’s Journey

So, how can an organization identify the risks – such as those related to employee recruitment and retention – that could negatively impact its enterprise value? The key lies in systematically identifying the issues with the greatest potential impact on both the organization and its stakeholders, while also pinpointing areas that offer the most significant opportunities for long-term growth.

The case study below details Wolf & Company P.C.’s unique combination of regulatory expertise, strategic partnerships with organizations like Greenly, and independent Materiality and Gap Assessment services that deliver significant value to client organizations.

Challenge

Similar to many banking organizations in recent years, the Executive Management Team and Board of Directors at BayCoast Bank championed several sustainability initiatives, including climate risk management and the development of loan products tailored to the evolving climate economy. Such initiatives were prioritized in the absence of any regulatory requirements.

However, like many community banks, BayCoast leadership was acutely aware of the limited resources available to advance these sustainability initiatives. To address this, BayCoast leadership allocated responsibility for environmental initiatives across various project champions, given the depth and complexity of each topic.

BayCoast took a strategic step by laying a solid foundation for its environmental sustainability program. After conducting a Climate-risk Vulnerability Assessment with the SaaS-based WolfPAC Integrated Risk Management solution, the project team identified the need for a structured approach to prioritize environmental initiatives that were most impactful to their stakeholders, as well as to enhance the bank’s existing sustainability processes and operations.

Solution

Building a sustainability program can feel daunting, and while complexity may arise, it is crucial to have a program and structure that aligns with an organization’s strategy and is tailored to its size and needs. For BayCoast, Wolf supported the bank’s project team by providing tools and guidance through a phased approach to developing its environmental sustainability program.

Phase 1: Materiality Assessment

  • Identified all relevant stakeholder groups and evaluated which should be included in the materiality assessment. For BayCoast’s initial assessment, the leadership team chose to focus on employees and directors. Future assessments will expand to include input from customers (depositors and borrowers), regulators, community leaders, and other stakeholders.
  • Developed strategies for gathering feedback from identified stakeholders. Wolf’s Climate and Sustainability team worked with the bank’s project team to design and distribute a survey. Wolf managed the survey process, including delivery and response collection. Over 550 individuals were surveyed, resulting in a response rate of more than 50%.
  • Analyzed survey responses to rank the key “material” environmental topics for further evaluation in Phase 2.
  • Collaborated to prepare a formal report for BayCoast’s Risk Committee and later presented to the full Board of Directors.
  • Identified key environmental topics for the program roadmap, including water conservation, waste and wastewater (including recycling), climate risk management, energy consumption and sourcing, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Phase 2: Gap & Readiness Assessment

The objective of this phase was to assess the bank’s business practices and their alignment with the key environmental topics identified in Phase 1.

  • Conducted a comprehensive assessment of business practices based on frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), and Task Force for Climate-Related Financial Disclosure (TCFD).
  • Interviewed key management members to understand existing practices related to water conservation, waste and wastewater, climate risk management, energy consumption and sourcing, and GHG emissions.
  • Identified areas for improvement to be addressed in the bank’s sustainability program roadmap.

Phase 3: Roadmap Creation

Wolf’s team developed a roadmap to strengthen the BayCoast’s sustainability program, incorporating risk ratings from employee and director surveys, resource availability, and a cost-benefit analysis. The roadmap prioritized key action items for completion in fiscal year 2024, 2025, 2026, and beyond.

 

Result

BayCoast has established the foundation of an environmental sustainability program tailored to its size and complexity, with the flexibility to expand by engaging additional stakeholder groups and exploring new business practices. For now, the project team has a clear roadmap for executing environmental initiatives in the coming years. The results of the greenhouse gas measurement and carbon footprint initiative are outlined in a companion case study.

As the need for GHG assessment and carbon footprint management grows, Wolf & Co. has partnered with Greenly, whose industry-leading solution offers a fast, effective, and intuitive platform to track and reduce carbon footprints. Greenly’s platform evolves
continuously to stay ahead of new regulations like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR), ensuring users can complete GHG reporting quickly, efficiently, and without concern.

For further insights on the challenges, steps, and benefits of the Carbon Accounting and Assessment process, be on the lookout for part two of this case study.

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