The minimum reporting standard for environmental costs in order to meet information requests of statistic agencies as well as the standards set by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) requires environmental investments and expenditures by type (end-of-pipe vs. integrated prevention) and affected environmental domain.
National statistical agencies require a distinction of environmental protection measures into emission control or prevention and in addition a classification into the environmental media (Air, Ground, Water, etc.) affected. In certain countries a division of the future investments into mandatory or voluntary may also important in order to be able to fulfill reporting requirements to authorities.