Auditing Strategic & ESG Risk: Building Governance Resilience
Integrating ESG & Strategy: The Modern Internal Auditor's Blueprint for Assessing Risk, Governance, and Long-Term Value.
Equip yourself with the knowledge, frameworks, and practical tools needed to audit strategy formulation, strategy execution, and ESG strategy integration. Move beyond operational assurance into board-level strategic assurance.
11th – 13th August 2026 Johannesburg - South Africa
Course Overview
Strategic risks are among the most significant drivers of organizational success or failure. Yet internal audit functions often hesitate to assess strategy because it is seen as the domain of boards and executive management.
At the same time, organizations are increasingly expected to demonstrate not only financial performance, but also sustainability, stakeholder value, and measurable social impact. This course closes that gap.
It equips internal auditors with the knowledge, frameworks, and practical tools needed to audit strategy formulation, strategy execution, and ESG strategy integration. A special emphasis on Day 3 extends the traditional strategy audit perspective into ESG strategy, enabling internal auditors to provide stronger assurance and more strategic insight to boards.
Key Learning Outcomes
Strategic Risk: Understand the nature of strategic risk, define the role of internal audit in strategy execution, and assess the quality of strategic analysis.
Audit Execution: Audit strategic objectives, KPIs, and assumptions. Identify governance, methodological, and behavioral risks.
ESG Value Creation: Understand the role of ESG within corporate strategy, materiality assessments, and ESG governance.
ROI & Impact: Apply practical methods for calculating the ROI of ESG activities and use social impact measurement concepts.
Audit Plans: Develop robust, board-ready audit plans for both overarching strategy and specific ESG integration.
Why You Should Attend
Elevate your internal audit function to provide board-level assurance on the strategic and ESG risks that truly drive organizational value.
Audit What Matters Most
Move beyond standard operational assurance into high-level, board-facing strategic assurance.
Strengthen Relevance
Align your internal audit approach with the risks that are most critical to CEOs, boards, and investors.
Prepare for the ESG Era
Understand precisely how sustainability strategy, impact reporting, and ESG value creation can be rigorously audited.
Build Practical Capability
Gain hands-on tools, templates, and step-by-step approaches for conducting strategy and ESG audits.
Training Agenda
3-Day Onsite Face-to-Face Programme
- Why strategic risks matter.
- The evolving role of internal audit in strategy.
- Moving from traditional control-focused functions toward providing assurance over strategic risks.
- Understanding strategy and strategic risks.
- The strategic analysis process: environment, industry, and organizational performance.
- Distinguishing strategy from operational planning.
- Assessing whether strategy foundations are sufficiently robust.
- Key steps and risks in strategy formulation.
- Minimum requirements for strategy documents.
- Performance indicators and risk of biases (over-optimism, weak assumptions).
- Change management and strategic risk.
- Auditing the cascading and communication of strategy.
- Performance auditing linked to strategy.
- Assessing implementation effectiveness across the organization.
- ESG as part of corporate strategy.
- ESG risks, opportunities, and stakeholder expectations.
- ESG strategic objectives and governance.
- Materiality assessments and stakeholder engagement.
- ESG KPIs, reporting systems, and monitoring mechanisms.
- Why ESG ROI matters and cost-benefit logic.
- Linking ESG initiatives to measurable business value.
- Challenges in attributing outcomes and benefits.
- Outputs, outcomes, and impact measurement.
- Practical approaches to measuring social value.
- Internal audit’s role in assessing social impact measurement frameworks.
Who Should Attend?
This program is designed for professionals tasked with assessing, influencing, or assuring organizational strategy and ESG initiatives:
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Internal Auditors & CAEs expanding assurance into strategic execution and ESG metrics.
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ESG Officers & Analysts ensuring their sustainability strategies align with corporate governance.
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Risk & Compliance Professionals integrating ESG risk into enterprise risk management frameworks.
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CFOs, COOs, and Strategic Planners evaluating the ROI of ESG and strategic implementation.
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Corporate Governance Professionals & Directors demanding measurable social impact and resilience.
Course Deliverables
Everything you need to implement strategic and ESG audits immediately
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🎓Certificate of Attendance
Recognized documentation of your strategic audit and ESG training.
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📋ESG Audit Frameworks
Ready-to-use workflows for assessing materiality, ESG KPIs, and social impact.
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📚Comprehensive Materials
Hard copies of all presentations, case studies, and strategic auditing guides.
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📈ROI Calculation Templates
Frameworks to evaluate the true financial and social impact of ESG initiatives.
Investment & Registration
Event Code: IL-ESGR-025 | 11th – 13th August 2026 | Johannesburg - South Africa
Delegate 1
USD 1,595Book 1 delegate
Per delegate
Group
USD 1,295Book 2 to 3 delegates
Per delegate · Best Value
Corporate
USD 995Book 5 or more
Per delegate · All pricing excl. taxes
Enrollment Application
Payment is required within 5 working days of receiving the invoice. For 6+ delegates, contact us directly at training@indulead.com