Create a material topic

---
title: Create a material topic
description: Create material topics for your organization so that you can identify the areas where you want to make an operational sustainability impact.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/environmental-social-governance/create-material-topics.html
release: australia
topic_type: task
last_updated: "2026-09-10"
reading_time_minutes: 2
breadcrumb: [Configure, Operational Sustainability Management \(formerly Environmental, Social, and Governance\)]
---

# Create a material topic

Create material topics for your organization so that you can identify the areas where you want to make an operational sustainability impact.

## Before you begin

Role required: sn\_esg.program\_manager

## About this task

Material topics are topics that reflect the organization’s most significant impacts on the economy, environment, and people. After you create a material topic, you must send the topic for approval.

## Procedure

1.  Navigate to **All** > **Operational Sustainability Management** > **Operational Sustainability Workspace** > **Lists** > **Program Setup** > **Material topics**.

2.  Select **New**.

3.  On the form, fill in the fields.

<table id="table_lrv_yw4_brb"><thead><tr><th>

Field

</th><th>

Description

</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>

Name

</td><td>

Name of the material topic. For example, `Climate and Energy`.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Classification

</td><td>

Category of the material topic. Choices are the following:-   **Environmental**
-   **Social**
-   **Governance**


</td></tr><tr><td>

Approver

</td><td>

Person responsible for the review and for approval of the material topic.

</td></tr><tr><td>

State

</td><td>

State of the material topic. This field is automatically set to **Draft**.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Importance to business success

</td><td>

Effect of the material topic on the business success. Choices are the following:-   **None**
-   **Very important**
-   **Important**
-   **Moderately important**
-   **Slightly important**


</td></tr><tr><td>

Importance to stakeholders

</td><td>

Importance of the material topic for the stakeholders. Choices are the following:-   **None**
-   **Very important**
-   **Important**
-   **Moderately important**
-   **Slightly important**


</td></tr><tr><td>

Url

</td><td>

Links to any online information that the teams may use.

</td></tr><tr><td>

Priority

</td><td>

Priority of the material topic. Choices are the following: -   **None**
-   **High**
-   **Moderate**
-   **Low**


</td></tr><tr><td>

Description

</td><td>

Brief description of the material topic.

</td></tr></tbody>
</table>4.  Select **Save**.

5.  To send the topic for review, select **Ready for Review**.

6.  To mark a material topic as confidential, in the Security section, select the **Confidential** option.

    1.  In the **Allowed users** field, select the users who can view the record.

    2.  In the **Allowed groups**, select the groups that can view the record.

    This Security section only appears if the **sn\_grc.enable\_record\_confidentiality** property is enabled under GRC properties. By default, the logged-in user is added to the list of confidential users.


## Result

The material topic is sent to the approver. The state changes to **Review**.

## What to do next

[Create a metric](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/environmental-social-governance/create-a-metric.md)

-   **[Approve or reject a material topic](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/environmental-social-governance/approve-a-mt.md)**  
Review and approve or reject a material topic if it is assigned to you for approval.

**Parent Topic:**[Configure Operational Sustainability Management \(formerly ESG Management\)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/environmental-social-governance/configuring-esg.md)