Founded 1997 Boston, United States
Type Non-governmental organization
Purpose Sustainability reporting
Headquarters Amsterdam, Netherlands
Region served Worldwide
Chief Executive Eelco van der Enden
Deputy Chief NA
Executive
Chief Financial Dani Marunovic
Officer
Main organ Secretariat (administrative office) elected
by the annual general meeting
Affiliations OECD, UNEP, United Nations Global
Compact, ISO
Website www.globalreporting.org
Formerly called Global Reporting Initiative
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an international,
independent, nonprofit entity that provides a widely recognized framework
for sustainability reporting. GRI’s mission is to “sustainably improve the
world by enabling organizations to understand and communicate the
impacts of their activities on people and the environment.”
The GRI was established in 1997 as a collaboration between the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Coalition for
Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES).1
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a widely recognized
framework for sustainability reporting that helps organizations report
on their economic, environmental, and social impacts.
The Universal, Sector, and Topic Standards are the GRI’s three
main standards.2
The GRI Standards increase an organization’s transparency,
enhance stakeholder engagements, and help mitigate an
organization’s risks.
The GRI Standards
The GRI Standards are a set of guidelines that provide a framework for
sustainability reporting. These standards cover a wide range of economic,
environmental, and social topics and are used by organizations around the
world to report their sustainability performance and impacts.
There are three main sections of the GRI Standards:
Universal Standards: The Universal Standards provide a
foundation for all GRI reporting. They cover topics such as
governance, strategy, and management approach.
Sector Standards: The Sector Standards provide additional
guidance for organizations in specific sectors, such as agriculture,
manufacturing, and financial services.
Topic Standards: The Topic Standards provide detailed guidance
on specific topics like climate change, human rights, and corruption
CHARACTERISTICS OF GRI
MULTI STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT
The GRI Standards are developed through a multi-stakeholder process
that includes input from a wide range of organizations, including
businesses, civil society groups, labor unions, and academic institutions.
COMPREHENSIVE
GRI reporting is very comprehensive. Since the GRI Standards cover a
wide range of economic, environmental, and social topics, they provide an
encyclopedic framework for sustainability reporting.
MATERIALITY
Another feature of the GRI is its materiality. The GRI Standards emphasize
the relevance of sustainability issues to an organization’s operations and
stakeholders
TRANSPARENCY
An additional key characteristic of the GRI is its transparency. The GRI
Standards require organizations to disclose information about their
sustainability performance in a transparent and accessible way, allowing
stakeholders to understand the organization’s sustainability impacts and
progress.
SUSTAINABLE PERFORMANCE
GRI Standards encourage organizations to continually improve their
sustainability performance by setting goals, tracking progress, and
reporting on their performance
The GRI Reporting Process
The GRI Reporting Process is a structured approach for organizations to
report their sustainability performance using the GRI Standards. Generally,
the process has the following steps:
Preparation: The organization should list its stakeholders, assess
their concerns and expectations, and determine the scope of its
sustainability report.
Materiality assessment: The organization should conduct a
materiality assessment to identify the sustainability topics that are
most important to its stakeholders and its operations.
Data collection: Relevant data and information should be collected
by the organization on the identified sustainability topics, using both
internal and external sources.
Report drafting: The organization should draft the sustainability
report, including the management approach and the performance
data for each identified topic.
Review and validation: The draft report should be reviewed to
ensure accuracy and completeness, and it should seek feedback
and validation from stakeholders.
Report publication: The final report should be published and each
organization should communicate its sustainability performance to its
stakeholders, using various channels and formats.
Follow-up and improvement: The organization should track its
progress against the identified goals and commitments and
continuously improve its sustainability performance over time
Benefits of the GRI
Using the GRI Standards for sustainability reporting can offer several
benefits for organizations. These include:
Increased transparency: The GRI Standards require organizations
to report on their sustainability performance in a transparent and
accessible way, which can help to build trust and credibility with
stakeholders.
Enhanced stakeholder engagement: There is a high emphasis on
stakeholder engagement by the GRI Standards. This can help build
relationships with key stakeholders and address their concerns.
Improved decision making: By using the GRI Standards to report
on their sustainability performance, organizations can gain insights
into their environmental, social, and economic impacts, which can
inform better decision making and resource allocation.
Better risk management: The GRI Standards require organizations
to identify and report on sustainability risks, which can help to
mitigate potential negative impacts on the environment, society, and
business operations.
Competitive advantage: Organizations that use the GRI Standards
to report on their sustainability performance can differentiate
themselves from their peers and demonstrate their commitment to
sustainability, which can help to attract customers, investors, and
employees.
Continuous improvement: Utilization of the GRI Standards to
report on sustainability performance can help organizations track
their progress over time and set targets for continuous improvement,
which can help to drive positive change and innovation
How Is the GRI Funded?
The GRI is funded through a combination of sources, including
memberships, training and advisory services, grants and donations,
partnerships, and conference and event sponsorships
Is the GRI Mandatory in Some Countries?
Some countries have introduced regulations or guidelines that require or
encourage organizations to report on their sustainability performance using
recognized frameworks such as the GRI Standards. One example entails
the European Union (EU) Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). It
requires large companies to disclose information on environmental, social,
and governance (ESG) matters, and it recommends the use of recognized
reporting frameworks such as the GRI Standard
Is the GRI Mandatory in Some Countries?
Some countries have introduced regulations or guidelines that require or
encourage organizations to report on their sustainability performance using
recognized frameworks such as the GRI Standards. One example entails
the European Union (EU) Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD). It
requires large companies to disclose information on environmental, social,
and governance (ESG) matters, and it recommends the use of recognized
reporting frameworks such as the GRI Standard
