How Can Greenly Help You in your CDP Disclosure?

We’ve explained throughout many of our articles how in the fight against climate change and implementing sustainability, one of the best things you and your company can do is strive for greater transparency. 

After all, if you aren’t honest with yourself about what can be done to improve – how can you be honest with the world?

👉 How will the recent announcement of the Biden administration incorporating the CDP’s model for disclosures impact the future of environmental disclosures?

The ultimate goal of the CDP is to help companies and cities across the globe disclose their environmental impact to create greater transparency that can subsequently lead to positive environmental improvement – like new emission reduction targets or sustainability efforts.

According to the latest news, the Biden administration will now demand that workers with federal contracts disclose their environmental data through the CDP. In addition, these federal contractors will also have to disclose their environmental data in conjunction with carbon emission reduction tactics that adhere to science-based strategies. 

This announcement means that any major supplier that provides a product or service to the federal government must share their production of greenhouse gas emissions as well as any climate-related financial risks. This news means that these companies which are required to report in correlation with the model provided by CDP will also find newfound motivation to implement attainable actions to reduce their carbon footprint according to science-based target initiatives. Many major U.S. corporations like AT&T already do this – but it isn’t enough in the midst of climate change. Companies of all sizes need to get on board with transparency and adequate disclosures – and that’s exactly what this new regulation will provoke.

Think of it like taking a test at school, except everyone is going to know one another’s scores at the end – similar to how in T.V. shows from 20 years ago – there were scenes of students running up to a piece of paper on the bulletin board to check their grade. It’s evidently more embarrassing for a company to share disappointing environmental data than it is for them to share their positive environmental contributions. Therefore, this news released by the U.S. government and CDP could encourage companies to improve their efforts to reduce emissions, implement sustainability, and even improve their business revenue – as investors, employees, and customers alike are more interested in contributing to companies that recognize the importance of going green these days. 

Environmental disclosures are important everywhere in the world to ensure transparency and thorough organization – but why is it especially important in a country like the U.S.?

Good organization throughout any supply chain is important, but especially for the country with the highest purchase rate in the world – otherwise known as the federal government of the United States.

This is precisely what makes this new announcement regarding compulsory environmental disclosures such a big deal for the United States, and in fact – it makes history, as it is one of the most monumental regulations for supply chains in the country. 

The Biden administration isn’t just stopping with the help of CDP, but the federal government has also implemented a new goal to reduce 50% of pollution caused by excessive greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The new disclosure will significantly help the U.S. to achieve this goal, as it will incentivize companies to reduce their individual greenhouse gas emissions given all of their environmental data will now need to be made available to the public.

The world, let alone any individual country, cannot reduce their greenhouse gas emissions without turning to the highest contributing economic actors in the country in question. Suppliers play a bigger role in overall emissions than the average person realizes, therefore making the model provided by CDP an essential one to follow if the U.S. wants to achieve their newfound, aspirational environmental targets.

The CDP’s supply chain initiative hasn’t only been beneficial in recent times to support the United States’s newfound efforts to fight against climate change, but CDP has advocated and propelled the world towards greater environmental disclosure for the past fifteen years.

CDP will continue to benefit not only the environmental targets to (hopefully) be achieved by the United States, but assist countries around the world in finding the motivation to reduce their emissions. 

Why is it so important to disclose environmental data, such as greenhouse gasses emitted, climate-finance risk, and sustainable measures?

CDP has illustrated how disclosing environmental data often serves as the first step to reducing emissions or creating positive environmental change. This is because calculating how much your company is emitting or negatively contributing to is the only way a company can become aware of their impact.

Making these environmental disclosures mandatory will therefore propel the U.S., and subsequently the world – towards further reduced emissions. 

Think of disclosing your environmental data like weighing yourself or taking measurements of various body parts before determining a new diet or workout plan. It’s difficult to set viable goals without knowing the numerical data necessary to set achievable targets. In other words, you can’t aim to lose 25% of your weight by the end of the year if you don’t know how many pounds that 25% equates to.

It’s also difficult to decide which habits need to be altered in order to see the most efficacious results. For instance, maybe your sugar consumption is too high and that’s what’s causing the most weight gain – but it can be hard to see that if you don’t do a thorough assessment of your eating habits first.

The same goes for disclosing environmental data. Many companies will be forced to recognize the consequences of their own habits that would have otherwise gone unnoticed if disclosing environmental data remained unnecessary. This is why disclosing information like climate-related finance risks, greenhouse gas emissions, and sustainability measures are so important – because it compels companies to see their true impact, whether it be good or bad, and ultimately encourage them to make the changes necessary to improve their environmental standings. 

The companies that are already disclosing their environmental data are like the people at the gym who continuously measure and weigh their body to pertain to their fitness progress. The people who aren’t disclosing their environmental data are like the people at the gym who are working out, but aren’t sure if their workouts are indeed effective. Now, everyone is going to be subject to environmental disclosures, meaning that everyone will have to approach emission reductions methodically. 

Currently, around 20,000 organizations disclose with CDP guidelines in mind, but alongside this new announcement, and the previous requests of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to ensure that all public companies in the U.S. disclose their environmental data – that number is set to increase, and disclosure will now become the new-norm across various industries. 

Clearly, these new regulations are bound to be beneficial for the environment – but even with the guidelines that can be incorporated thanks to CDP, one might wonder if it’s still difficult to round up all of the information necessary to disclose environmental data.

For instance, one of the biggest environmental targets right now is many companies and countries striving to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Greenly can help any company seeking to establish a net-zero trajectory by helping companies to measure all three scopes of their emissions, including scope 3 emissions – which are the most difficult to calculate. 

Greenly also offers services to help with employee engagement, create customer specific approaches to reducing emissions, and a life-cycle assessment for any of your products or services.

All of this can help you with reporting your environmental data in conjunction with CDP. The environmental data to be disclosed from now on is going to be extremely specific, and public – and a company like Greenly can help you to avoid unexpected surprises on your next report. In fact, as previously mentioned, Greenly can even help you to draft the reports necessary to comply with these new regulations implemented by the Biden Administration with CDP. 

Think of when you would write a paper in a classroom: wasn’t it easier to write the paper with all of your sources next to you, with the subject matter of your paper fresh in your mind? Your reports will come out cleaner with Greenly – as we’ll have a newfound personal perspective on your company and your future environmental goals. 

Moving forward, these regulations are meant to serve as an indirect incentive for companies to reduce their emissions, as the Biden administration remains adamant on achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Recruiting the help of a company like Greenly can not only help you to draft the documentation necessary to comply with CDP and the federal government, but it can help you continuously monitor and track the progress towards your environmental goals moving forward.

If reading this article about how Greenly can help you disclose your environmental data and CDP has made you interested in reducing your carbon emissions to further fight against climate change – Greenly can help you!

Greenly can help you make an environmental change for the better, starting with a carbon footprint assessment to know how much carbon emissions your company produces.