Climate Taxonomy

1. Purpose

This section defines the Climate Disclosure Intent (CDI) taxonomy for climate-related sustainability disclosures.

The taxonomy enumerates a stable set of disclosure intents that capture the semantic meaning of commonly requested climate information across global reporting frameworks.

The taxonomy:

  • is independent of any reporting standard,
  • does not prescribe disclosure obligations,
  • does not assert completeness or compliance,
  • is intended to be reused across frameworks via Canonical Mapping Packs (CMPs).

2. Taxonomy Structure

Climate disclosure intents are grouped into the following logical domains:

  1. Governance & Strategy
  2. Risks & Opportunities
  3. Policies & Commitments
  4. Targets & Transition Planning
  5. Greenhouse Gas Emissions
  6. Energy & Mitigation Actions
  7. Performance & Progress
  8. Methodology & Assumptions

Each disclosure intent:

  • has a unique identifier,
  • represents a single semantic concept,
  • may be quantitative, narrative, or hybrid,
  • may reference one or more canonical data elements.

3. Climate Disclosure Intents

3.1 Governance & Strategy

CDI-CLIM-01
Climate governance structure

The existence and description of governance arrangements for overseeing climate-related matters.

CDI-CLIM-02
Management responsibility for climate

The assignment of management-level responsibility for climate-related strategy, risks, and performance.

CDI-CLIM-03
Integration of climate into business strategy

How climate-related considerations are incorporated into organisational strategy and decision-making.

3.2 Risks & Opportunities

CDI-CLIM-04
Identification of climate-related risks

The identification of physical and transition risks related to climate change.

CDI-CLIM-05
Assessment of climate-related opportunities

The identification of opportunities arising from climate-related transition or adaptation.

CDI-CLIM-06
Time horizons for climate risks and opportunities

The timeframes over which climate-related risks and opportunities are assessed.

CDI-CLIM-07
Resilience of strategy to climate scenarios

The assessment of organisational strategy resilience under climate-related scenarios.

3.3 Policies & Commitments

CDI-CLIM-08
Climate-related policies

The existence and scope of policies addressing climate-related matters.

CDI-CLIM-09
Public climate commitments

Public commitments related to climate mitigation, adaptation, or net-zero objectives.

3.4 Targets & Transition Planning

CDI-CLIM-10
Existence of climate-related targets

The existence of targets related to greenhouse gas emissions or climate performance.

CDI-CLIM-11
Baseline year for climate targets

The baseline period used for setting climate-related targets.

CDI-CLIM-12
Target year(s) for climate targets

The target period(s) for achieving climate-related targets.

CDI-CLIM-13
Scope coverage of climate targets

The scopes, boundaries, or value-chain segments covered by climate-related targets.

CDI-CLIM-14
Transition plan existence

The existence of a documented plan to achieve climate-related targets.

CDI-CLIM-15
Key actions in climate transition plan

The principal actions or measures planned to achieve climate-related targets.

3.5 Greenhouse Gas Emissions

CDI-CLIM-16
Gross Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions

Total direct greenhouse gas emissions from owned or controlled sources.

CDI-CLIM-17
Gross Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions

Indirect greenhouse gas emissions from the generation of purchased energy.

CDI-CLIM-18
Scope 2 accounting approach

The approach used to account for Scope 2 emissions.

CDI-CLIM-19
Gross Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions

Other indirect greenhouse gas emissions occurring in the value chain.

CDI-CLIM-20
Scope 3 category coverage

The Scope 3 categories included in reported emissions.

CDI-CLIM-21
Biogenic emissions and removals

Emissions and removals associated with biogenic sources.

3.6 Energy & Mitigation Actions

CDI-CLIM-22
Total energy consumption

Total energy consumed by the organisation.

CDI-CLIM-23
Renewable energy consumption

Energy consumed from renewable sources.

CDI-CLIM-24
Energy efficiency initiatives

Actions undertaken to improve energy efficiency.

CDI-CLIM-25
Use of carbon credits or offsets

The use of carbon credits, offsets, or similar instruments.

3.7 Performance & Progress

CDI-CLIM-26
Progress against climate targets

The organisation's progress toward achieving climate-related targets.

CDI-CLIM-27
Year-on-year emissions change

Change in greenhouse gas emissions compared to a prior period.

CDI-CLIM-28
Emissions intensity metric

Emissions normalised by a relevant activity or output metric.

3.8 Methodology & Assumptions

CDI-CLIM-29
GHG calculation methodology

The methodology used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions.

CDI-CLIM-30
Estimation and data quality assumptions

Key assumptions, estimation methods, and data quality considerations.

CDI-CLIM-31
Use of climate scenarios

Climate scenarios used in risk assessment or planning.

CDI-CLIM-32
Changes in methodology or boundary

Changes to methodologies, boundaries, or assumptions over time.

4. Taxonomy Characteristics

  • The taxonomy is non-exhaustive and may be extended.
  • Each CDI may map to multiple framework requirements.
  • Framework-specific nuance is handled exclusively through CMPs.
  • Deprecated CDIs remain referenceable for historical disclosures.

5. Summary

The CDI v1 Climate Taxonomy defines a stable semantic vocabulary for expressing climate-related disclosure meaning across reporting frameworks.

By collapsing diverse and evolving disclosure requirements into a manageable set of intents, the taxonomy enables organisations to model climate disclosures once and reuse them globally without loss of meaning.

Version: v1.0.0

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