TCFD framework

Turning climate risk into boardroom-ready insight

Sustainability reporting gets a bad rap. Too often, it’s treated as a compliance box-tick: hire a sustainability manager because customers, regulators, or investors are breathing down your neck. That framing sells it embarrassingly short. Done well, sustainability reporting is a complete financial risk reduction tool in its own right.

You’ve heard it on LinkedIn countless times: most sustainability reporting efforts stall at the same point. The sustainability team completes a detailed analysis — emissions data, scenario modeling, and risk assessments — and puts it into a thorough report. Leadership reviews it, agrees, and moves on.

The missing element is translation. To integrate sustainability data into daily business decision-making, sustainability reporting needs to connect with how leaders approach strategy, risk, and expenditure. When this link is established, the conversation shifts, and climate risk stops being “the sustainability team’s thing” and starts showing up in the rooms where decisions actually get made.

The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), established by the Financial Stability Board, was created to help companies make that connection. Its recommendations offer a framework for discussing climate risk in governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics.

Putting that framework to work inside a company requires some coordination, but the goal is refreshingly simple: turn climate analysis into insights that leadership can actually use.

BOARDROOM DELIVERY

What board-ready climate insight looks like

Once these elements are in place, the output is clear. A board discussion on climate risk usually includes a brief overview of the company’s main exposures, results from scenario analysis that show potential financial impacts, and a small set of metrics tracking progress over time.

Leadership also expects to see how management is responding — operational changes, capital investments, or adjustments to long-term strategy. At that point, climate risk fits comfortably into the broader conversation about how the company plans for the future.

There’s a less obvious audience for this work, too. Candidates, particularly in competitive hiring markets, increasingly research a company’s sustainability credentials before accepting offers. A credible climate narrative isn’t just a board deliverable — it’s a recruiting asset.

Frequently asked questions

STANDARDS HISTORY

An evolution of carbon accounting methods

WHAT’S CHANGING

Why this matters

For years, companies navigating carbon accounting methods have had to contend with two parallel frameworks that, while broadly compatible, weren’t fully aligned. That created friction—particularly for multinational organizations, those seeking third-party verification, or companies trying to satisfy multiple reporting requirements at once.

The GHG Protocol–ISO partnership is a significant step toward resolving that. Harmonized standards mean less ambiguity, more consistent data across industries, and a clearer path for companies to have their emissions figures independently verified. It’s also a signal that the field is maturing: carbon accounting is moving from a fragmented landscape of competing methodologies toward something more unified and durable.

PRACTICAL GUIDANCE

Navigating the transition

Standards updates of this scale don’t happen in a vacuum, and for companies with established carbon accounting programs, the 2027 revisions will likely prompt real questions. Will your current methodology still be compliant? How will the harmonized frameworks affect your Scope 3 reporting? What does this mean for 2030 reduction targets calculated in alignment with the current version of the standard?

The honest answer is: we don’t know yet. The GHG Protocol’s public consultation periods are still underway, and the partnership with ISO is in its early stages. The impact on companies reporting their emissions remains to be seen.

That’s where we come in. Our carbon accounting team stays at the leading edge of standards development so that when the landscape shifts, your program doesn’t have to scramble to catch up. Whether you’re building a carbon accounting program from scratch, preparing for third-party verification, or getting ahead of the 2027 updates, we can help you move forward with confidence.

Frequently asked questions

ECOSYSTEM HEALTH

Scientists release the 868-page nature report Trump killed

A first-of-its-kind federal assessment of U.S. ecosystem health was canceled by the Trump administration. Nearly 200 researchers released it independently as an 868-page draft for public comment.

• Freshwater ecosystems in crisis: “overdrawn, polluted, fragmented and invaded”.
• 34% of U.S. plant species and 40% of animal species at risk of extinction.
• The report, renamed the “Nature Record,” documents how human pressures are eroding clean water, food systems, health, and natural storm and fire protection.
• Director Phillip Levin: “The future is not fixed. Conservation, restoration, and renewed connections between people and nature can improve ecosystem health.”

ENERGY MARKETS

Black rain, $120 oil, and the strongest case for renewables in years

The conflict with Iran, now in its third week, is an ecological disaster on top of a human one. Missile strikes on four Tehran oil depots turned day to night, oily “black rain” coated neighborhoods, and five confirmed tanker attacks in the Persian Gulf triggered oil and chemical spills. Strikes on desalination plants threaten freshwater access in an already water-stressed region.

• With nearly a fifth of global oil transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the blockage has spiked prices to $120 per barrel—up from approximately $70—and forced the IEA to release a record 400 million barrels of strategic reserves.
• The Global Renewables Alliance issued a five-step policy plan to avoid future price shocks. Bill McKibben’s line of the week: “Sunlight travels 93 million miles to reach Earth. None of them through the Strait of Hormuz.”
• The UK’s Climate Change Committee found reaching net zero would cost approximately £4 billion per year—equivalent to the energy shock from Russia’s Ukraine invasion and far cheaper than fossil fuel dependence; Carbon Brief analysis found that ramping up domestic UK production would do almost nothing for energy security.
• European EVP Teresa Ribera: “The answer is not new dependencies, but faster electrification, renewables, and efficiency.”

GLOBAL FRAMEWORKS

ISSB reporting keeps spreading whether governments like it or not

Mandatory ISSB-aligned sustainability reporting continues gaining ground regardless of political headwinds.

• South Korea released its mandatory ISSB-aligned reporting roadmap, phasing in from 2028—weeks after the UK published its own standards.
• 90% of European companies removed from CSRD scope under the EU Omnibus still plan to continue or expand sustainability reporting (Osapiens survey).
• The ISSB released a new webinar walking through the IFRS S2 requirements on climate resilience and scenario analysis, including proportionality mechanisms that let companies scale the approach to their circumstances.

CHINA POLICY

China’s new five-year plan: more solar, more coal, more hedging

For China, oil price shocks are exactly why they’ve pursued domestic clean energy. But they’re also why coal isn’t going anywhere.

• The 14th five-year plan projects continued coal production growth in “hard-to-abate” industries while setting a “cautious” 17%. emissions-intensity reduction target—one percentage point below last cycle’s goal, which China missed by 6%.
• Previous pledges to cut coal consumption were walked back; climate advocates are hoping for the classic underpromise-overdeliver outcome.
• Premier Li Qiang says the plan still keeps China on track for carbon neutrality by 2060 and peak emissions before 2030.

STATE POLITICS

California’s next governor will be picked on climate

Early heat waves near 100°F and last year’s LA wildfires have made climate a central flashpoint in California’s gubernatorial race.

• Eight candidates competing over wildfire adaptation funding, utility liability rules driving up energy prices, and the state’s outsized role in national environmental policy.
• Frontrunner Tom Steyer is running on the premise that “climate polluters and shareholders, not taxpayers and consumers, should pay to address the effects of climate pollution”.
• Primary: June 2.

SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS

Big Oil would rather move states than answer shareholders

From Texas redomiciling to Dutch lawsuits, fossil fuel companies are fighting their investors harder than their emissions.

• Exxon filed to redomicile from New Jersey to Texas for friendlier corporate governance rules as it faces an investor lawsuit over its automated proxy voting system; the SEC, short-staffed from the government shutdown, has stopped reviewing shareholder proposals.
• In Europe, Dutch shareholder group Follow This—backed by 16 institutional investors—threatened BP with a lawsuit after BP refused to include a resolution on protecting value if oil and gas demand falls.
• CEO Mark van Baal: “BP is trying to silence its own shareholders rather than answering them.”

RENEWABLE ENERGY

Wind power hit a global record in 2025

• Global wind capacity surged 38% over 2024, driven mainly by Asia
• U.S. solar installations fell 14% year over year due to Trump. administration policies and the One Big Beautiful Bill, but still accounted for more than half of all new U.S. capacity.
• European Commission President von der Leyen released a new policy to boost nuclear development, admitting Europe’s reversal on nuclear was a mistake.

CLIMATE DATA

The climate numbers keep getting worse

• February 2026 was the 5th-warmest February on record globally; oceans had their 2nd-warmest February.
• NOAA issued an El Niño Watch on March 12: one-in-three chance of a strong event this year.
• Potsdam Institute: global warming has accelerated over the past decade even after removing natural variability.
• Colorado River drought worsening; Nevada snowpack at 56% of median, down from 94% last year.
• Gulf Stream shifting northward off Cape Hatteras, matching pre-collapse patterns in circulation models.
• Arctic sea ice in February: 3rd lowest on record.

U.S. REGULATORY ROLLBACK

The U.S. regulatory bonfire, continued

• Utilities lobbying state lawmakers across the country to delay bills letting consumers buy plug-in solar panels.
• Interior Department revoked environmental regulations protecting public lands.
• EPA moving to shut down its greenhouse gas reporting program.
• NOAA proposed gutting vessel speed rules for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales (200 to 250 mature individuals remaining).
• Climate science chapter removed from the Federal Judicial Center’s Reference Manual after 27 Republican AGs claimed bias.

Frequently Asked Questions

Decoding the scorecard

Where the market ranks you

The CDP reporting framework’s scoring system is designed to measure the maturity of your environmental program. Each environmental theme is scored separately at each of four levels. To progress, companies must demonstrate commitment and action:

• Disclosure (D): Simply providing information, though often incomplete
• Awareness (C): Demonstrating oversight of environmental impacts
• Management (B): Taking active steps and implementing policies to reduce impact
• Leadership (A): The coveted top tier, reserved for companies demonstrating best practices and comprehensive climate strategy

CDP has defined minimum criteria at each tier — called Essential Criteria — that must be met before a company can level up. For top-tier disclosers that choose to make their score public, it is a powerful signal. Top scores attract capital and contracts while low scores signal potential regulatory risk and operational inefficiency. The score is a direct market valuation of your company’s resilience.

The new mindset

A strategic tool for value creation

The goal is not to merely comply with a reporting requirement. The CDP reporting process is a framework for strategic advantage. Instead of treating it as a burdensome year-end checklist, the world’s most successful companies leverage the process to:

1. Identify and mitigate risk: The rigorous data gathering process forces internal teams to map and understand their highest-risk environmental exposures, allowing them to proactively plan for physical and transition climate risks within their value chain.
2. Unlock capital: Investors are increasingly prioritizing companies with high environmental performance. A top score differentiates you, potentially lowering the cost of capital and opening access to new pools of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)-focused investment.
3. Drive operational efficiency: The drive to measure and report emissions and resource use is fundamentally a drive to eliminate waste, leading to direct cost savings in energy and materials.

The message is clear: your CDP score is a public-facing measure of your company’s future-readiness. The time for treating it as a compliance checkbox is over. It is now a critical strategic tool for securing your competitive position in a climate-aware economy.

Frequently asked questions

5 steps to reliability

The pillars of a successful GHG inventory audit

A successful audit is about meticulous preparation, adherence to standards, knowledge from experts, and a commitment to accuracy. Key elements include:

1. Adherence to recognized standards

The foundation of any credible GHG inventory is its alignment with internationally recognized standards. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) Corporate Standard is the most widely used and respected framework. Auditors will rigorously check for compliance with its principles of relevance, completeness, consistency, transparency, and accuracy.

2. Robust data collection and management

Auditors need to see a clear, auditable trail of company data. This means:

• Comprehensive data sources: Identifying all relevant emission sources (Scope 1, 2, and 3) and collecting data from primary sources whenever possible.
• Accurate measurement and calculation: Using appropriate emission factors and calculation methodologies.
• Strong internal controls: Documented processes for data collection, entry, and verification to minimize errors and omissions.
• Data archiving and retention: Maintaining records in a single location for a defined period.

3. Clear documentation and reporting

The audit process relies heavily on documentation. This is where Greenplace’s climate team experts provide full support and guidance, including:

• Scope and boundaries: What the inventory covers, including specific facilities, operations, entities, reporting period, emission sources, and control approach.
• Methodologies used: A detailed explanation of how emissions were calculated for each source.
• Assumptions made: Any estimations or assumptions used, along with justifications.
• Data gaps and limitations: Transparency about any areas where data was unavailable or estimated.

4. Defined organizational structure and responsibilities

Auditors will want to understand who is responsible for what in the GHG accounting process. Clear roles and responsibilities ensure accountability and consistency.

5. Internal review and quality control

Before an external auditor even steps in, having an internal review process can catch errors and strengthen your inventory. This can involve cross-checking data, reviewing calculations, and ensuring consistency.

Conclusion

Easing the audit process

A successful corporate GHG inventory audit doesn’t have to be a daunting task. By partnering with Greenplaces, you gain access to a cutting-edge platform, expert guidance, and a commitment to quality that ensures your carbon footprint is not just accurate, but also fully auditable and guaranteed to pass assurance. Focus on your core business, while we ensure your environmental impact reporting stands up to the closest scrutiny.

Frequently asked questions

Why we’re there

Sustainability programs need infrastructure, not just ambition

Responsible Business USA brings together the senior practitioners who are doing the hard work of integrating sustainability across core business functions — and the questions they’re wrestling with are exactly the ones Greenplaces is built to answer. How do you build a reporting program that satisfies regulators, investors, and your own board? How do you collect credible Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions data without creating a full-time data management burden? How do you demonstrate ROI on sustainability when the regulatory landscape keeps shifting?

Our sustainability management software gives sustainability, finance, legal, and operations teams a shared foundation — structured data collection, automated carbon accounting, and audit-ready disclosure reports that work across CDP, EcoVadis, SBTi, GRI, and ISSB frameworks. One platform. Every reporting obligation.

Go deeper

Sustainability as a business driver — here’s how we help you make that case

The sustainability leaders winning right now aren’t just reporting — they’re using their data to reduce costs, strengthen stakeholder relationships, and build organizational resilience. Greenplaces gives you the platform to do both: meet your disclosure obligations and generate the operational insights that make sustainability an undeniable business priority.

Why we’re there

The built environment has a California-shaped compliance challenge

California is moving faster on climate disclosure than anywhere else in the country. SB 253 and SB 261 require large companies doing business in the state to publicly disclose Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions and climate-related financial risks — with enforcement already underway. For real estate firms, construction companies, architecture and engineering practices, and developers, this isn’t a distant deadline. It’s now.

Greenplaces is purpose-built to help built environment companies navigate this landscape. We combine carbon accounting expertise with hands-on reporting execution, and as official GRESB assessment partners, we support real estate portfolios through the full GRESB Real Estate Assessment cycle — from data collection to final submission.

Go deeper

Built environment leaders are moving on climate — here’s how we help

From California’s regulatory requirements to global ESG reporting frameworks, the built environment faces one of the most complex sustainability compliance landscapes of any industry. Greenplaces brings together carbon accounting, emissions tracking, and reporting execution in one platform — so your team isn’t cobbling together spreadsheets and consultants every disclosure cycle.

One of us — and here to help

We’re a certified B Corp. We also help others become one.

Greenplaces isn’t just a sustainability reporting software company — we’re a certified B Corp, and we’ve been through the process ourselves. That firsthand experience shapes how we support our clients. We know what the B Impact Assessment asks for, where the data gaps tend to appear, and how to build the emissions reporting and ESG documentation infrastructure that earns a passing score and holds up at verification.

As B Lab’s standards evolve, so does the complexity of recertification. B Lab v2.1 raises the bar on climate, governance, and social impact performance — and companies renewing under the new standards often need stronger carbon accounting and emissions data than their previous certification required. That’s where Greenplaces comes in.

Go deeper

Ready to explore what’s possible?

Whether you’re at Champions Retreat or finding us for the first time, here’s where to learn more about how Greenplaces supports B Corp certification, sustainability reporting, and the carbon accounting work that underpins both.

Why we’re there

Carbon accounting is becoming a manufacturing imperative

MD&M South brings together more than 3,000 manufacturing and packaging professionals across six sectors — and sustainability is moving to the top of every operations agenda. Greenplaces helps manufacturers and packaging leaders measure Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, meet evolving ESG reporting requirements, and communicate their progress to customers, investors, and regulators — all from one platform.

Whether you’re responding to customer sustainability questionnaires, preparing for regulatory reporting requirements, or building a credible carbon reduction roadmap, we make it manageable — without pulling your team away from what they do best.

Go deeper

Manufacturing leaders can — and should — lead on sustainability

The companies winning in today’s market aren’t waiting for regulations to force their hand. They’re building sustainability programs that reduce costs, strengthen customer relationships, and create long-term resilience. Here’s where to start.

Reporting Standards

EFRAG pushes back on GHG Protocol’s Scope 2 overhaul – supportive in principle, skeptical in practice

The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) has responded to the GHG Protocol’s proposed revisions to Scope 2 emissions guidance with measured support and pointed reservations. While endorsing the goal of greater accuracy and comparability, EFRAG raised serious concerns about how the updated framework would be implemented in practice.

• Support for Improved Accuracy: EFRAG supports the overall goal of enhancing the comparability and accuracy of Scope 2 measurements, recognizing the significant effort put into the updated guidance.
• Concerns Over Complexity: EFRAG opposes several proposed changes, arguing that the consultation materials are overly complex and lengthy. They recommend that future standards prioritize clarity, simplicity, and ease of application.
• Call for Cost-Effectiveness: The organization emphasizes a “balanced and proportionate” approach, urging a thorough cost-benefit analysis of ambitious proposals—such as hourly matching or highly precise emission factors—before they are implemented.
• Emphasis on Subsidiarity and Piloting: EFRAG suggests that the GHG Protocol should remain a high-level, principles-based framework, leaving technical specifics to local jurisdictions. They also recommend piloting the revised guidance before a full global rollout.
• Demand for Better Process: EFRAG calls for longer consultation periods (at least 120 days) and asks that future consultations be based on concrete draft amendments rather than high-level directional proposals.

Corporate Climate Strategy

U.S. companies tell investors: we’re planning past Trump

Major U.S. companies across oil, airlines, and the auto sector are signaling to investors that the current administration’s climate rollbacks don’t change their long-term planning horizon. With business strategies extending well beyond any single presidential term — and the EPA having recently repealed the Obama-era “endangerment finding” that underpinned greenhouse gas regulations — companies are navigating a widening gap between federal policy and market reality.

• ConocoPhillips noted in its 10-K that policy swings create additional uncertainty for companies that need to plan operations lasting through multiple administrations.
• Exxon Mobil took a bolder stance, stating that without supportive policies and innovation, net zero will remain out of reach for both society and the company.
• Halliburton and American Airlines warned that future administrations may pursue more restrictive climate policies. American Airlines added that state and local environmental laws are already more stringent than federal requirements.
• Ford highlighted the regulatory whiplash businesses face, noting that one administration often replaces the regulations enacted by the last.
• Expert Warning: Angeli Patel of UC Berkeley’s Center for Law and Business warned that what may not be material under Trump could become extremely material in three years—and companies will have to shift budgets very quickly.

ESG & Investment

Vanguard pays $29.5M to settle anti-ESG suit – and agrees to go quiet on climate

Vanguard has settled its portion of a landmark multistate antitrust lawsuit brought by Republican Attorneys General, agreeing to pay $29.5 million while admitting no wrongdoing. The terms of the settlement go well beyond a financial penalty, reshaping how Vanguard can engage with portfolio companies on climate issues going forward.

• Passivity Commitments: Vanguard pledged not to advocate for climate measures in portfolio companies, not to advise them on reducing carbon emissions, and not to join climate groups such as the Net Zero Asset Manager Initiative or UN-backed PRI.
• Proxy Voting Reform: Vanguard will offer proxy voting to investors in funds accounting for at least 50% of assets in U.S. equity funds it advises—a first for the industry.
• Document Disclosure: Vanguard agreed to turn over internal communications with other parties, which ESG critics hope will shed light on whether coordination occurred.
• Ongoing Litigation: Co-defendants BlackRock and State Street remain in the lawsuit. State Street calls the suit “baseless and without merit.”

Climate Litigation

Climate court cases: NYC wins, Greenpeace loses — two rulings at opposite ends of the spectrum

Two significant climate-related court decisions landed this week, offering a reminder that the legal landscape for sustainability issues is anything but settled. One ruling preserved a major clean air and mobility program; the other imposed a judgment that could threaten the future of one of the world’s most recognized environmental organizations.

Frequently Asked Questions