With the CEBDS Corporate Sustainability Parameters and Reporting Matters Brazil, CEBDS reinforces its role in supporting the evolution of its member companies on the ESG agenda.

CEBDS has expanded its set of support tools for member companies on their corporate sustainability journey. In 2026, the organization presented the... CEBDS Corporate Sustainability Parameters, a new maturity diagnostic tool, and released the results of the third edition of Reporting Matters Brazil, a study that evaluates the quality of sustainability reports published by member companies.

Both initiatives stem from the same understanding: the transition to more sustainable business models requires technical, objective, and constructive tools capable of supporting, and not merely demanding, the continuous evolution of companies.

CEBDS Sustainability Parameters: from the WBCSD global methodology to the Brazilian context. 

Inspired by the WBCSD Membership Criteria methodology, already applied to global member companies since 2023, the CEBDS Corporate Sustainability Parameters arrive in Brazil adapted to the national context. The proposal is to offer a maturity benchmark in five strategic dimensions of corporate sustainability, allowing each company to identify progress already achieved, opportunities for improvement, and paths for evolution.

It is important to highlight what this initiative is not: an instrument for classification or exclusion. The methodology is based exclusively on the analysis of public information and documents, which means that the results should be understood as a benchmark diagnosis, a starting point for dialogue, which may not fully capture developments not yet publicly disclosed by companies.

This initiative is an integral part of CEBDS membership, at no additional cost, and reinforces the organization's commitment to being ever closer to its members, offering concrete tools to strengthen strategies, broaden ambition, and support sustainability decisions.

Reporting Matters Brazil: tracking the evolution of ESG reporting in Brazil 

Reporting Matters Brazil is a study by CEBDS that technically and comparatively assesses the quality of sustainability reports published by its member companies. Conducted using WBCSD methodology and with technical support from Grupo Report, the study analyzes reports based on criteria and sub-criteria organized into four dimensions: Principles, Content, Effectiveness, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The overview provides companies with a structured picture of how they are organizing, prioritizing, and communicating their ESG information.

More than just a grade or ranking, the study functions as a tool for continuous improvement: by mapping the strengths and gaps of each report, Reporting Matters helps companies identify opportunities for evolution in how they communicate their socio-environmental results, in a regulatory and market environment that is increasingly demanding in terms of transparency and comparability. Across different editions, the study also allows us to see the collective maturation of the Brazilian business sector in the sustainability reporting agenda.

The third edition of the study, released on March 3rd, clearly illustrates this potential. It analyzed 82 reports published in 2025, with data from 2024, totaling 9,986 pages evaluated based on 16 criteria and 76 sub-criteria. The work involved 11 consultants over 350 hours of technical analysis, combined, for the first time in this edition, with the use of artificial intelligence tools.

See more at: According to CEBDS, 84% of corporate sustainability reports already undergo external audits.

The numbers show consistent progress in the maturation of the transparency agenda among Brazilian companies:

• 84% Of the reports that underwent at least partial external audit, the percentage without any type of verification fell from 26% in 2023 to 16% in 2025;
• 97% The documents used the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) standard, an international reference for sustainability reporting;
• 75% They already adopt dual materiality, a methodology that considers both financial and socio-environmental impacts when prioritizing issues;
• 99% Of the companies that use at least one global reporting standard or framework, the group that did not follow any reference fell from 9% in 2023 to just 1% in 2025;
• The combination of multiple standards has become the majority practice: only 17% of the reports use the GRI exclusively, compared to 35% in 2023.

According to Daniela Mignani, Corporate Executive Director of CEBDS, the data reveals a clear movement by Brazilian companies towards more structured, comparable, and decision-oriented reporting, with Reporting Matters fulfilling the role of supporting this consolidation of sustainability as a strategic pillar of business.

Gilberto Longo, director of business and communication at Report, highlights that the combination of specialized technical analysis and artificial intelligence in this edition allowed for the identification of accelerated maturation: the transition from limited to reasonable assurance and the consolidation of dual materiality show that companies are not only reporting, but integrating the socio-environmental impact into the financial value of the business with the same rigor dedicated to accounting statements.

Among the 82 reports analyzed, fifteen stood out with the highest overall scores in the evaluated criteria (in alphabetical order): Ambipar, Axia Energia (formerly Eletrobras), Banco do Brasil, Bracell, Cemig, Eneva, Engie, Itaú, Marfrig, Motiva, Nexa, Petrobras, Suzano, Telefônica Vivo and Votorantim Cimentos.

Two instruments, one purpose.

Together, the two initiatives form an ecosystem to support the evolution of corporate sustainability: while Reporting Matters assesses the quality and maturity of ESG results communication across all member companies, the CEBDS Parameters offer each company, individually, a structured diagnosis of its own journey—both conceived as tools for dialogue, continuous improvement, and strengthening the climate governance of Brazilian companies.

Want to know how the CEBDS Corporate Sustainability Parameters can support your company's ESG journey? Contact us at cebds@cebds.org. 

Check out the full study here. Reporting Matters Brazil 2025 and other publications related to this topic.