Aligning Reporting on Water: New Linkage Document for CDP and GRI

Nov 16, 2018 9:35 AM ET

GRI and CDP share an ambition: to drive corporate sustainability reporting and use of data to inform decision-making. Both organizations want to catalyze action towards creating social, environmental and economic benefits for everyone – and work collaboratively towards this goal.

CDP and GRI have a wide range of audiences that use data for different purposes. Therefore, the content that is requested, required or recommended by either framework can differ. GRI provides the world's most widely used standards for sustainability reporting, covering a broad group of stakeholders, whereas CDP collects data on behalf of investors and large purchasing companies.

The GRI Standards help businesses and governments worldwide to understand and effectively communicate their impact on a wide range of sustainability issues. They are designed to show how companies contribute, positively or negatively, to the goal of sustainable development. CDP's data requests touch deeper on issues affecting the economic viability of a company as it relates to three key sustainability areas: climate, water and forests.

With thousands of companies now using both frameworks to communicate their efforts, both organizations are acutely aware of the responsibilities this brings. This linkage document for water impacts will make reporting more straightforward for organizations using both frameworks. GRI and CDP remain committed to working together to reflect and align best practice and avoid unnecessary disclosure effort.

Download the linkage document here.