The Climate Data Steering Committee
Solving the climate data challenge
Mitigating the worst impacts of climate change requires the world to accelerate actions to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.
More than 100 countries have either adopted, announced, or are discussing net-zero commitments, covering more than two-thirds of global GHG emissions. While various net-zero emissions pledges have been made, they differ in terms of scope and specificity, and to date, limited policies are in place to deliver on them, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The lack of accessible, high-quality, and consistent data remains one of the biggest challenges for turning net-zero pledges into action.
To deliver the transition to a net-zero economy, we need to address challenges tied to the global availability, comparability, and transparency of climate transition-related data.
Financial institutions need emissions data to assess the carbon footprint and associated climate risk of its investments; as well as to build key models and analytics and develop transition plans.
Civil society needs open access to data to drive collaborative progress with companies and other partners across the global economy.
Companies need comprehensive data on their value chains to measure and disclose their Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions. They also need to be able to benchmark their performance against their peers.
Academic institutions need access to open data to conduct research on climate progress.
Policymakers and regulators need reliable data on greenhouse gas emission reductions to measure progress and develop public policy.
The Climate Data Steering Committee (CDSC) was established by French President Emmanuel Macron and UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions Michael R. Bloomberg in June 2022 in response to the global climate data challenge. The CDSC aims to accelerate and help build a broadly accessible foundation of high-quality climate data that is critical to delivering the net-zero transition.
Increasing the integrity, comparability, and transparency of key climate data
In 2022, the CDSC came together to produce a vision for the development of an open data utility for private sector climate transition-related data: the Net-Zero Data Public Utility (NZDPU or Utility). As envisioned by the CDSC, the NZDPU aims to become a global, centralized, open repository for private sector climate transition-related data, that is freely available to all stakeholders helping to accelerate efforts to direct capital to low- or zero-carbon investments, and provide the ability to monitor progress against emissions reductions targets.
The Release of the Net-Zero Data Public Utility
Proof of Concept
Released at COP28, the proof of concept represents a significant step towards the CDSC’s 2022 recommendations for the development of a global, centralized, open repository for private sector climate transition-related data: the Net-Zero Data Public Utility (NZDPU).
The CDSC envisions that the NZDPU will be a freely available repository for all stakeholders to easily access and interpret a core set of company-level data that is critical for driving progress and managing risks and opportunities in the net-zero transition.
The NZDPU will be developed under a phased and iterative approach. Therefore, the proof of concept includes an initial set of data fields, features, and functionality to solicit stakeholder insights that will help to inform future releases.
The NZDPU Proof of Concept
The CDSC oversees the ongoing development of the NZDPU and, informed by actors across the global economy including climate data providers and civil society, come together to deliver a forward-looking strategic vision for more accessible climate data.
The committee held a public consultation from December 1, 2023 through April 1, 2024.
Hear from Members of the Committee
Bringing global leaders together
The CDSC brings together global leaders, including regulators, policymakers, and standards setters, informed by data providers and civil society organizations to accelerate climate action by driving forward global momentum for the private sector to report and disclose key company-level climate transition-related data critical to delivering a net-zero economy.
CDSC members:
Ashley Alder
Chair, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), United Kingdom
Bruno Le Maire
Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, France
Daniela Stoffel
State Secretary for International Finance, Swiss Federal Department of Finance, Switzerland
Emmanuel Faber
Chair, International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)
Fatih Birol
Executive Director, International Energy Agency (IEA)
Herbert Krapa
Minister-of-State in charge of Energy, Ghana
Jean-Paul Servais
Chair, International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)
Klaas Knot
Chair, Financial Stability Board (FSB)
Kristalina Georgieva
Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Mairead McGuinness
Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union, European Commission
Mario Marcel
Minister of Finance, Chile
Mark Carney
Co-Chair, Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ)
Mary Schapiro
Chair, Climate Data Steering Committee (CDSC)
Mathias Cormann
Secretary-General, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Nellie Liang
Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, United States Treasury Department
Patrick de Cambourg
Chair of Sustainability Reporting Board, European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG)
Sabine Mauderer
Chair, Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS)
Shigeru Ariizumi
Vice Minister for International Affairs, Japan Financial Services Agency
Simon Stiell
Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
CDSC observers:
Catherine McKenna
Chair, UNSG High-level Expert Group on Net-Zero Commitments
Ravi Menon
Ambassador for Climate Action, Singapore
To drive forward global momentum for the private sector to disclose key climate data, the CDSC will advise on and oversee the creation of a unified, global, open-access climate data repository of climate transition-related data.
Publications
Learn more about CDSC and NZDPU progress in 2023
The CDSC progress report describes the development of the NZDPU in 2023 and key areas where further progress is needed to increase the comparability, consistency, coverage, quality, and completeness of private sector climate data.
Read the CDSC’s recommendations for the development of the NZDPU
In November 2022, the CDSC released its initial recommendations for the phased and iterative development of the NZDPU following a public consultation.
Learn more about the recommendations development process
In November 2022, the CDSC released its overview of its four-week consultation and other forms of external engagement used to compile the Draft Recommendations for the Development of the Net-Zero Data Public Utility
Meeting notes
The Climate Data Steering Committee holds regular working-level meetings of delegates appointed by CDSC members, and periodic principal-level meetings. Summaries of these meetings are provided below.
Recent news
Climate Data Steering Committee (CDSC): President Emmanuel Macron and Michael R. Bloomberg Deliver Proof Of Concept For Groundbreaking Net-Zero Data Public Utility At COP28 (12/02/23)
Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ): GFANZ Principals Group Issues Net-Zero Data Public Utility (NZDPU) Statement of Support (12/03/23)
Climate Data Steering Committee (CDSC), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and Singapore Exchange (SGX Group): MAS and SGX Group to collaborate with the Climate Data Steering Committee to strengthen global access to climate transition-related data (06/27/23)
Climate Data Steering Committee (CDSC): Swiss Financial Centre Actors Unite To Help Develop Net-Zero Data Public Utility (06/26/23)
Le Figaro: Climate: standards for comparing corporate action (06/03/22)
Reuters: Macron, Bloomberg seek better monitoring of business climate action (06/03/22)
Élysée: Qu’est-ce que le One Planet Data hub? (What is the One Planet Data hub?) (06/03/22)
Responsible Investor: ESG round-up: Macron and Bloomberg announce climate data steering committee (06/07/22)
Le Monde: Climate: ‘Without data, there is no way for the public to hold companies accountable’ (06/10/22)
Bloomberg Philanthropies: Climate Data Steering Committee Proposes Recommendations for the Development of First-Ever Publicly Accessible Climate Data Utility. (09/21/22)
Environmental Finance: Macron and Bloomberg propose ‘open’ climate data platform (09/22/22)
ESG Investor: Plans for Climate Data Utility Unveiled at UNGA (09/22/22)
Finextra: Net-Zero committee proposes creation of climate data utility (09/22/22)
Financial Times: Eight themes to watch after UNGA week (09/26/22)
Regulation Asia: International Committee to create Public Utility for Net-Zero Data (09/28/22)
Le Monde: COP27: ‘Climate data must be built and used for the common good’ (11/06/22)
Regulation Asia: Net-Zero Data Public Utility to launch as Beta in H2 2023 (11/11/22)