cornerstonedata.org

What It Is

Cornerstone Sustainability Data Initiative is an open sustainability data initiative that aims to provide high-quality data for companies, governments, researchers, and other organizational users. It is not a marketing or SEO tool in the traditional sense; rather, it serves as data infrastructure for ESG, carbon accounting, supply-chain emissions assessment, and research analysis.

Core Capabilities and Data Scale

Its core work is to place two commonly used Scope 3 emissions models, USEEIO and CEDA, within the same framework, with plans to integrate them into a single global open MRIO (multi-region input-output) model. CEDA covers 400 industries across 148 countries and regions and has been used in professional scenarios for more than two decades. USEEIO originates from the U.S. EPA and covers emissions factors for more than 400 industries in the U.S. economy; it is commonly used in corporate measurement, policy work, and academic research. The website also provides an easily accessible download version of eGRID 2024.

Pricing and Support

Pricing information is limited. Open datasets are available for download, while CEDA offers both Open CEDA and a supported enterprise version. More in-depth paid support and custom model extensions are available through ERG consulting services, and Watershed also offers a paid enterprise version of CEDA. Support is mainly provided through GitHub discussion forums, which the team reviews regularly. Users can also subscribe to updates via the contact form.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are open data, transparent model sources, and coverage of both U.S. and global multi-region emissions accounting use cases, making it suitable as foundational data for institutional carbon accounting and research. Its open collaboration model also supports participation from the professional community. The limitations are that it does not provide common marketing or SEO features such as keyword research, rankings, or traffic analysis. The website does not specify an API, visualization products, BI integrations, or concrete enterprise pricing, and the learning curve may be relatively high for non-specialist users.

Who It’s For and Access from China

It is best suited for corporate sustainability teams, government agencies, research teams, and users working with industrial ecology or input-output models. If a marketing team is focused on ESG reporting, supply-chain carbon disclosure, or sustainability communications data, it can serve as a data source. The main content does not state access conditions from mainland China. Related download and support channels such as Zenodo and GitHub may be unstable in real-world network environments, so it is advisable to prepare alternative download options or use locally accessible data mirrors. Payment methods are not disclosed.