In 2016, 1,089 companies responded to investor requests to report greenhouse gas (GHG) data through CDP Climate Change. This number has been steadily rising year-over-year, increasing ten-fold since 2010. As investor and consumer awareness on climate change continues to increase, organizations can expect to see new reporting frameworks and standards emerging and existing standards gaining momentum. While CDP is a leading framework for disclosure of climate, water and forests information, there are a number of other frameworks for disclosing similar information that organizations can consider.

If your organization has put in the effort to understand its environmental footprint and is already reporting publicly through CDP, there are opportunities to further expand the influence and impact of this data. For example, you could report through sector-specific channels, such as GRESB and the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) or use available guidelines to further develop your citizenship and financial reporting.

Sector-specific reporting opportunities include:

• GRESB: an investor-driven reporting framework that focuses on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of real assets in the real estate and infrastructure sectors. Companies, asset managers and/or individual assets can voluntarily respond to GRESB. The reporting season runs April through June.
• Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) Environmental Reporting Initiative: a reporting opportunity for the IT sector, intended to standardize approaches to measuring and reporting on climate, water and waste indicators.

Frameworks for company reporting include:

• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): a long-standing international standards organization that recently released the Sustainability Reporting Standards that outline requirements, recommendations and guidance for a variety of social and environmental metrics.
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): originally developed by the United Nations to guide national action on sustainable development issues, the SDGs are being increasingly adopted by organizations to tie organization-level goals to international interests.
• United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Communication on Progress (COP): an outline for reporting on progress against UNGC commitments.
• Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Recommendations: a framework to standardize climate change reporting in financial disclosures, such as in company 10k’s.

Reporting through multiple avenues increases distribution and awareness of a company’s environmental performance, which can improve brand reputation and drive collaborative efforts to reduce environmental impacts. If your company is reporting to one framework, consider researching what industry-specific frameworks or reporting opportunities are applicable to your organization and expanding the scope of influence for your environmental reporting. Additional perspective on sustainability reporting can be found in WSP’s sustainability resources page.