The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and CDP have announced a new collaboration to align their sustainability reporting frameworks, making it easier for companies to disclose their environmental impacts. This partnership aims to streamline the reporting process, improve data accessibility, and enhance the transparency of corporate environmental performance.

GRI’s Sustainability Reporting Standards are widely adopted globally, enabling consistent and clear communication about sustainability efforts across industries. These standards are used by over 14,000 organizations, providing critical information to stakeholders such as investors. In 2021, GRI updated its standards and added a new biodiversity reporting standard, which helps companies disclose their most significant biodiversity impacts.

CDP operates a global environmental disclosure system, tracking key sustainability issues like climate change, deforestation, water security, and plastic use. In 2023, over 23,000 companies reported their performance through CDP, covering more than two-thirds of global market capitalization.

The agreement between GRI and CDP, announced during the COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan, will allow companies to report GRI-aligned data directly through CDP’s platform. This collaboration includes a joint exercise to improve the alignment of the CDP questionnaire with GRI’s upcoming climate, energy, biodiversity, and water standards.

Cristina Gil White, Interim CEO of GRI, expressed her enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, “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.”

Sherry Madera, CEO of CDP, highlighted the importance of the partnership, saying, “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.”

This collaboration marks another significant step toward harmonizing global sustainability reporting standards and improving corporate transparency.

200-character overview:
GRI and CDP have announced a collaboration to align sustainability reporting frameworks, enabling companies to disclose GRI-aligned data through CDP’s platform, streamlining environmental reporting.