GRI and CDP Increase Their Services

Environmental Leader recently held a webinar, The Business Case for Sustainability Disclosure with speakers from the Carbon Development Project's (CDP) development manager Patrick Crawford and the Global Reporting Initiative's (GRI) technical development manager Bastian Buck. Crawford outlined CDP Reporter Services which include a number of components that will help companies move beyond simply reporting their carbon footprint to actually doing something about it.

Latest Services by SAP and CDP

CDP Analytics is one of these services and it uses SAP software to provide reports that can help with benchmarking performance and showcasing best practices. DuPont is using this software to examine data on leading sustainable companies, and share it with internal strategy teams. Another reporting service, CDP Insights, offers roundtable sessions and webinars on topics suggested by members so they can share their experiences and learn from each other.

On the webinar, Crawford emphasized that most companies are at an early stage in the evolution of their reporting and CDP wants to help advance them. In order to improve the ease of reporting, CDP has worked closely with SAP to develop a light version of SAP Carbon Impact.  This program can help global organizations credibly report and profitably reduce the enterprise's carbon footprint. SAP also offers workshops to help companies get started with reporting.

Other CDP Initiatives in Partnership with GRI

Carbon Action,  an investor advocacy program, is another CDP initiative. In February, the organization announced that the number of institutional investors using the CDP to seek data on companies’ water management had risen by over 150% in one year.

Services offered by GRI and CDP are evolving to help companies at every stage of their reporting according to representatives from both organizations. They have begun collaborating on a water disclosure project as part of their sustainability agenda.

Buck said that GRI’s services around its reporting framework now include a training program, with more than 60 certified training partners and more than 5,000 individuals trained so far, as well as educational and resource publications. [ed note: 3p has partnered with ISOS group to offer these trainings, the next one is coming up in Berkeley, CA] GRI has also been increasing its regional representation, with focal points now in the U.S., Australia and emerging markets like Brazil, China and India.

In addition, Neil Krefsky, SAP’s sustainability solutions marketing director, mentioned that his company offers both GRI- and CDP-certified content. The GRI and CDP have created a linkage document to show how companies can use the two frameworks in tandem. The document can be accessed on the GRI website.

GRI has evolved to become one of the most robust reporting tools and the new partnerships with CDP, will only add to its value.

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Editor's note: If you're interested in becoming a GRI certified reporter for your company, please consider our GRI training seminar coming up in October in Berkeley, CA.