PranavNagrecha Sustainability Reporting (Net Zero Cloud)
Salesforce Net Zero Cloud (formerly "Sustainability Cloud") is the industry product for carbon accounting and regulatory sustainability disclosure. It ships a Carbon Accounting Manager data model and a set of native report builders for the major frameworks: ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards under CSRD), SASB, GRI, CDP.
This skill covers the reporting / disclosure output layer — which framework to use, how to drive the native report builders, the data prerequisites, and the common pitfalls. Configuring emissions sources and ingesting energy data is a separate skill.
The Carbon Accounting Manager data model (briefly)
Net Zero Cloud organizes emissions data into typed source objects that map to the GHG Protocol's three scopes:
| Scope | Source category | Net Zero Cloud objects |
|---|---|---|
| Scope 1 | Direct emissions (owned facilities, fleet) | StationaryAssetCarbonInventory, VehicleAssetCarbonInventory |
| Scope 2 | Purchased energy | StationaryAssetEnergyUse, electricity / heating purchases |
| Scope 3 | Value-chain (procurement, travel, waste) | ScopeThreeCarbonInventory, procurement / travel / waste records |
The unit-of-measure inputs are Energy Use Records — typed source records that the platform converts into CO2-equivalent emissions via emission factors.
Report builders
| Framework | Output format | Builder name |
|---|---|---|
| ESRS (CSRD) | Word document via Data Mapper | ESRS Report Builder, MSESRSMainDataraptor |
| SASB | Sector-specific structured output | SASB Report Builder (sector applicability matters) |
| GRI | Disclosure-aligned structured output | GRI Report Builder |
| CDP | Submission-aligned questionnaire output | CDP Report Builder |
The ESRS path uses an OmniScript / Data Mapper combination that generates a Microsoft Word disclosure. CSRD compliance specifically requires that a double-materiality assessment has been completed before the report is generated — skipping this prerequisite produces a non-compliant CSRD output even if the report builder runs without error.
Double-materiality (CSRD prerequisite)
Double materiality has two axes:
- Impact materiality — how the business impacts society and the environment.
- Financial materiality — how sustainability matters affect the business's financial performance.
CSRD requires both. The assessment is a discrete project step, not something the report builder produces. Net Zero Cloud has tooling to capture the assessment results; the work itself is human and stakeholder-driven.
Sustainability Scorecard
The Sustainability Scorecard is Net Zero Cloud's snapshot view of emissions performance against targets. It aggregates Scope 1 / 2 / 3 data into a single readable summary; it is a different surface from the framework-specific report builders. Scorecard is for internal monitoring; report builders are for external disclosure.
Recommended Workflow
- Confirm Net Zero Cloud is licensed and provisioned. It is a separately purchased industry cloud; presence is not implied by an Enterprise / Unlimited license.
- Select the target framework. CSRD / ESRS for EU regulated entities; SASB for sector-aligned investor disclosures; GRI for general voluntary disclosure; CDP for CDP submission. More than one is common; report builders run independently.
- Verify double-materiality assessment if CSRD is in scope. Without it, the ESRS output is structurally correct but compliance-deficient.
- Validate the underlying emissions data. Energy Use Records, asset coverage, supplier coverage. Gaps in input data produce gaps in disclosure.
- Run the framework-specific report builder. ESRS goes through MSESRSMainDataraptor and produces a Word document; SASB / GRI / CDP have their own outputs.
- Reconcile against the Sustainability Scorecard. Scorecard and report-builder numbers should agree for the same scope and period; a mismatch means a configuration drift.
- Track disclosure-readiness gaps. SASB sector applicability, CDP submission workflow, and supplier-data coverage are common gap areas. Document for the next reporting cycle.
What This Skill Does Not Cover
| Topic | See instead |
|---|---|
| Net Zero Cloud feature setup / emissions-source config | integration/net-zero-cloud-setup |
| CRM Analytics general dashboards | data/crm-analytics-patterns |
| Sustainability Cloud (legacy product name) before rebrand | (Same product; treat the name as Net Zero Cloud) |
| ESG performance benchmarking | App-layer (CDP, MSCI, etc.) |