Climate research provider and environmental disclosure system CDP today announced the launch of a new platform that aims to make it more efficient and easier for companies to report on sustainability and align with emerging global standards. As part of CDP’s new launch, the IFRS Foundation’s International Sustainability Standard Board (ISSB) introduced a new questionnaire in line with the new IFRS S2 climate disclosure standard as the core basis for CDP’s climate disclosures.
CDP operates a global environmental disclosure system that enables investors and other stakeholders to measure and track an organization’s performance in key areas of environmental sustainability, including climate change, deforestation and water security, with a new plastics-related impact category added in last year. In 2023, a record 23,000+ companies went public through CDP, up 24% from the previous year, representing companies worth $67 trillion, or more than 66% of global market capitalization.
The new platform comes as companies around the world face increasing pressure to meet a range of emerging sustainability reporting standards. Among the most significant are the IFRS Foundation’s new general sustainability (IFRS S1) and climate (IFRS S2) reporting standards, launched in June 2023 and endorsed by IOSCO, the leading international policy and standard-setting forum for securities regulators, calling on regulators to have incorporated the standards into their regulatory frameworks for sustainability reporting. The IFRS Foundation recently revealed that jurisdictions representing nearly 55% of global GDP have already taken steps to use or align with its ISSB sustainability reporting standards.
According to CDP, the new platform and alignment with the ISSB standards is aimed at easing the reporting burden on companies and making it easier for companies to meet the new standards, with new research showing that almost 60% of companies are already responding to the extensive CDP questionnaire. IFRS S2.
Emmanuel Faber, Chairman of the ISSB, said:
“With a track record of success in adopting disclosure frameworks, the CDP is an established and trusted tool to support companies on their journey to ISSB compliance. Our partnership will make it easier for companies to communicate relevant data to their shareholders and will critically accelerate the rapid global adoption of IFRS S2 and the availability of information that investors so urgently need.”
CDP announced last year that it planned to align with IFRS S2 and also unveiled plans to consider other sustainability reporting standards, including taking into account the new Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework in its questionnaire, and taking into account the upcoming SEC climate. disclosure rules as well as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) in its disclosure system. In November 2023, CDP also announced an agreement with the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) to maximize compliance of its disclosure system with the ESRS.
Sherry Madera, CEO of CDP, said:
“CDP is proud of our partnership with ISSB, TNFD, EFRAG and other global frameworks to fulfill our role in the ecosystem, respond to market demand for efficiency and enable faster environmental action through the power of data.”
CDP added that it has now combined Climate, Forests, Water, Biodiversity and Plastics and advanced convergence with other key standards, including TNFD and ESRS, unifying them into one questionnaire and data set. In addition, CDP announced the release of a separate questionnaire for SMEs, focused on capacity building across the global value chain.
With the launch of the new platform, CDP noted that financial institutions representing a record $142 trillion have asked a record 75,000 companies to disclose environmental data through CDP.
Madera added:
“Every dollar an organization spends on reporting is a dollar it can’t spend on action. This year, CDP is a better partner for companies, cities, states and regions than ever before, making their disclosures even more effective.”