CDP and GRI sign pact on sustainability reporting

The Carbon Disclosure Project and the Global Reporting Initiative plan to deepen their collaboration after signing a memorandum of understanding at the United Nations COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan.

GRI provides a set of standards for organizations to report their environmental, social and economic impacts, while CDP offers a global disclosure system for companies to measure and manage their environmental impacts. More than 14,000 organizations use the GRI standards while more than 24,800 companies representing over two-thirds of global market capitalization disclose through CDP. Through CDP's annual questionnaire, companies can report GRI-aligned data to stakeholders and the wider global market, according to the existing collaboration.

Under the new agreement, CDP and GRI intend to build more capacity and streamline disclosures for companies, with the goal of increasing access to comparable data through environmental reporting that reflects the highest ambition. The MoU will help the two organizations make progress on their technical alignment, including a mapping exercise to enhance interoperability and an assessment of CDP's questionnaire and the GRI Topic Standards for climate change, water and biodiversity.

"For over 25 years, GRI has been a catalyst for organizations to understand and report their impacts, empowering them to unlock sustainable value and bring about positive change," said GRI interim CEO Cristina Gil White in a statement Thursday. "The synergy with CDP, in terms of our shared ambitions for corporate reporting of environmental impacts to be more comprehensive and effective, is clear to see. As nations are gathered in Baku for crucial talks on how to quicken progress to achieve the Paris Agreement, I am delighted to sign this significant MoU with CDP. I believe the formal collaboration will lead to clarity for businesses and other stakeholders on the alignment between the GRI Standards and CDP's questionnaire, increasing the ease of reporting in ways that deliver relevant and actionable data."

CDP's corporate questionnaire already partially aligns with GRI 303: Water & Effluents 2018 and climate-related disclosures in the GRI standards. More mapping and alignment will now be explored with GRI's forthcoming climate and energy standards (scheduled to be published in Q1 2025), and GRI 101: Biodiversity 2024.

"CDP is proud to strengthen our collaboration with GRI," said CDP CEO Sherry Madera in a statement. "This agreement will enhance the efficiency of environmental reporting, enabling companies to provide more comparable and actionable data. By disclosing through CDP, companies can disclose GRI-aligned data directly to stakeholders and the wider global market. This is a crucial step in accelerating global climate action and ensuring businesses can meet the highest standards of transparency and accountability."

Another global ESG standard-setter, the International Sustainability Standards Board, also reported its progress this week, saying that more than 1,000 companies have referenced the board in their reports and 30 jurisdictions are making progress on introducing ISSB standards in their legal or regulatory frameworks. 

Another group, Accountants for Sustainability, also weighed in Thursday on the COP29 conference in Azerbaijan. "The Baku negotiations and announcements will be focused on investment for the transition," said A4S. "Finance teams will want to look out for initiatives that help unlock private capital for developing nations — e.g. Green Guarantee Group or announcements on/from multilateral banks. Announcements are expected to include a new 'Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance.' This will mean agreeing a new commitment to provide annual climate finance to developing countries, replacing a previous goal of $100 billion per annum set in 2009 and met in 2023."