A boutique ESG firm built around practitioner depth and one uncomfortably high bar: defensible work.
ESGweise was founded in Dubai by Sumit Agarwal in 2023 to do ESG advisory the way the GCC actually needs it done — senior practitioners on the call, methodology that holds up under regulatory and audit review, and the technical depth to operate confidently at the intersection of ESG, financial risk, and operational reengineering.
The problem with most ESG consulting
Generic frameworks repackaged for any geography. Junior consultants writing reports they couldn't defend in front of a regulator. Promises of "industry expertise" that dissolve once the engagement starts. We've seen it from both sides — as practitioners, and as the team that gets called to fix the work afterwards.
Why GCC specificity matters
UAE Climate Law, CBUAE Climate Risk Principles, ADX/DFM disclosure rules, MOCCAE MRV, ADGM and DIFC standards, Sharia-compliant green finance, NGFS scenarios overlaid on GCC-specific energy and water structures — these aren't translation problems. They're substantive technical differences that change what good ESG work looks like in the Gulf.
What "audit-ready" actually means
Every deliverable we produce is built so it could pass a TÜV Rheinland-style ISAE 3000 limited assurance review without rework. That's not a higher gear; that's our default mode. If your auditor and your regulator wouldn't accept it, neither do we.
Senior on the call. Always.
Every engagement is led by Sumit or a designated principal. There is no model where you buy senior expertise in the proposal and get junior delivery on the project. Specialists from our network are matched to the work — by sector, by framework, by language — under one accountable lead.
Discovery before deliverables
Two to four conversations before we propose anything. We need to understand your board's actual concerns, your auditor's actual flags, your regulator's actual expectations — not assumptions from the brief.
Methodology that survives scrutiny
We work to ISAE 3000 / ISSA 5000 assurance standards even when the engagement is advisory. Working papers, evidence trails, calculation reproducibility — built in, not retrofitted.
One named accountable principal
You get a single point of contact who has done the work themselves. Not a relationship manager. Not a coordinator. The person on the email is the person doing the analysis.
Honest scope discipline
We will tell you when an engagement is outside our specialism. We will tell you when a less expensive route exists. We will tell you when the proposal you've been quoted elsewhere is sound. Long-term clients reward this; we plan accordingly.
ESGweise sits within a tightly-coupled four-vertical practice.
Most engagements draw from more than one. The structure makes it easier to scope, deliver, and bill — without forcing the work into a single category that doesn't fit.
Sustainability Advisory
ESG strategy, materiality, climate risk, reporting, assurance, ratings improvement, ISO implementation.
Capability Building
Senior-led training across nine practice areas, Kirkpatrick L1–L4 measurement, live simulations, 90-day sustainment.
Financial Risk Advisory
IFRS 9 ECL modelling, ICAAP, stress testing, climate-credit integration, treasury and ALM.
Software Platform
ESGweise One — production materiality, GHG, climate risk, and reporting platform with audit-trail by design.