Ecometrica becomes Partner for CDP’s water and forest programmes

EDINBURGH, LONDON 14 April 2016 – Sustainability software and data firm Ecometrica has underlined its leading position in environmental reporting by becoming the first CDP Gold Software Partner to be accredited for its capabilities in helping companies report to CDP’s water and forests programmes, in addition to its existing climate change accreditation. The extended partnership will see Ecometrica working with reporting companies to improve water stewardship and forest protection. CDP is a global not-for-profit organisation that works with investors, companies and public sector entities across the world to measure, manage and reduce environmental impacts.

Gary Davis, chief executive of Ecometrica, said: “The desire of companies to report on the direct and indirect impact of their operations on forest cover and water availability is only likely to grow following the Paris Agreement. Current predictions show that by 2040 demand for water is set to outstrip supply by 40 per cent and a 'business as usual' approach is no longer an option, as more and more people are put at risk. Our aim is to help mitigate such risks by empowering as many companies as possible to track and report on these increasingly important aspects of sustainability.”

The Ecometrica Platform allows companies to accurately and easily map their environmental impacts across a range of areas and provides a simple way of reporting to CDP's climate change, water and forest programmes. It uses satellite data – both historical and near-real time – to accurately map changes on the ground, including forest patterns and water resources. It is also one of the few true SaaS software platforms in the environmental and sustainability sector, accessible from any modern web browser.

"As reporting of greenhouse gas emissions is set to become mandatory for around a further 10,000 companies in the UK in the coming years, there is currently less regulatory pressure to report on other environmental categories," continued Gary Davis. "Therefore, it is essential to provide an effective solution for those organisations who do wish to track their wider impacts, to ensure the cost and resources required to allow such reporting do not become too onerous later.”

Paul Simpson, CDP’s chief executive officer, added: “Ecometrica was already a valued Gold Climate Change Software Partner, and it is fitting that they continue to develop innovative solutions for monitoring and reporting environmental information. As our first Gold software partner for water and forests, Ecometrica’s platform will be a useful resource for companies looking to measure, manage and disclose data on their wider environmental impacts."

"We are seeing a growing commitment among organisations to report more fully, both for external stakeholders and to improve the quality, understanding and relevance of their own internal reporting," concluded Gary Davis. "We are already working with a number of large multinational companies in these areas, and we now look forward to helping many more organisations to measure and manage their environmental impacts across their entire value chain.”