Standards and frameworks
Reporting standards, explained plainly.
SustainMatrix supports data and reporting aligned to the main sustainability standards. Here is what each one asks for, in plain words, and how the platform helps with the data behind it.
How reporting works| Framework | Carbon: Carbon data | Resources: Energy, water, waste | Targets: Targets and pathways | Evidence: Evidence and audit trail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GHG Protocol | Supported | Not applicable | Not applicable | Supported |
| ISO 14064 | Supported | Not applicable | Not applicable | Supported |
| GRI | Supported | Supported | Not applicable | Supported |
| ISSB | Supported | Not applicable | Supported | Supported |
| CDP | Supported | Supported | Supported | Not applicable |
| SBTi | Supported | Not applicable | Supported | Not applicable |
| CSRD / ESRS | Supported | Supported | Supported | Supported |
| TCFD | Supported | Not applicable | Supported | Not applicable |
Dots show where platform data supports the framework.
The frameworks
GHG ProtocolHow to count emissions
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol corporate standards
The most widely used method for counting greenhouse gas emissions. It defines Scope 1 (fuel you burn), Scope 2 (electricity you buy) and Scope 3 (your supply chain).
Almost everyone who asks about your emissions: customers, investors, lenders and the other frameworks on this page.
Emissions calculated in line with the GHG Protocol, with Scope 2 shown both location-based (grid average) and market-based (your contracts), and conversion factors fixed by year.
ISO 14064Inventories that can be checked
ISO 14064-1 and 14064-3: greenhouse gas inventories and their verification
An international standard for quantifying and verifying greenhouse gas inventories. Part 1 covers the organisation’s inventory; Part 3 covers how it is checked.
Organisations that want their inventory independently verified, and the verifiers who review it.
Verification-ready records: every figure linked to its source document, conversion factor and approver, with a full audit trail of changes.
GRIReporting your impacts
Global Reporting Initiative standards
The Global Reporting Initiative standards describe how organisations report their impacts on the environment, people and the economy.
Organisations publishing a sustainability report, and the stakeholders who read it.
Energy, water, waste and emissions figures by site and period, ready to populate the environmental disclosures (GRI 302, 303, 305 and 306).
ISSBDisclosure for investors
IFRS S1 and S2 sustainability disclosure standards
Standards from the International Sustainability Standards Board for investor-focused disclosure. S1 covers general sustainability information; S2 covers climate.
Listed companies and their investors, and a growing number of regulators that adopt the standards.
Scope 1, 2 and 3 data, targets and progress, and the evidence behind them, organised for climate-related financial disclosure.
CDPThe yearly questionnaire
CDP disclosure on climate and water
A disclosure system where companies answer a yearly questionnaire on climate, water and forests, often at the request of customers or investors.
Large customers screening their suppliers, and investors comparing companies.
Emissions, energy and water data by site and year, with targets and savings tracked by evidence level, so the questionnaire is answered from one dataset.
SBTiTargets in line with science
Science Based Targets initiative
The Science Based Targets initiative checks whether a company’s emissions targets match what climate science says is needed.
Companies setting public reduction targets, and the customers and investors who ask for them.
Absolute-contraction targets and pathways, with progress against them, built on your greenhouse gas inventory. Target validation itself is done by the SBTi.
CSRD / ESRSEU sustainability reporting
EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and European Sustainability Reporting Standards
The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive requires many large and listed companies in the EU to report on sustainability, using the European Sustainability Reporting Standards.
Companies in scope of the directive, their non-EU parents and the assurance providers who review their reports.
Data for the environmental standards (ESRS E1 climate, E3 water, E5 resources and waste), with the audit trail that assurance providers ask for.
TCFDClimate risk reporting
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures
The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures set out how to report climate risks and opportunities. The task force has disbanded, and its recommendations are built into the ISSB climate standard (IFRS S2).
Companies and financial institutions still reporting against the recommendations, often because a regulator refers to them.
The metrics and targets part: emissions by scope, intensity by site and progress against targets.
How we use these standards
Alignment, not certification.
- Alignment means the platform organises and calculates data in the way each framework expects.
- It is not certification, assurance or endorsement by the standard-setter.
- Verification and assurance are carried out by independent third parties, using the records the platform keeps.
Names of standards and organisations belong to their owners.