Global Reporting Initiative or GRI is an international independent standards organisation that helps businesses, governments and other organisations to better communicate and understand their impacts on diverse environmental social and governance issues such as climate change, human rights, and corruption.
Co-founded by Ceres, Tellus Institute, and UN Environment Programme in 1997, GRI develops various standards that are widely used by organisations for annual reporting and disclosures.
The GRI Standards are a modular system comprised of three interconnected series of standards:
Altogether, these three standards provide flexibility for differing needs.
The practical guide to sustainability seporting using GRI and SASB Standards notes that the GRI supports broad and comprehensive disclosures on organisational impacts, in contrast with the SASB’s focus on a subset of financially material issues.
There are nine requirements for reporting in accordance with the GRI Standards.
If all requirements are not met fully, the organisation issuing the sustainability information cannot claim that the information is in accordance with the GRI Standards.
Instead, they may indicate that the reported information was prepared with reference to the GRI Standards.
The GRI Universal Standards GRI 1 also provides guidance for the required procedures for ‘Reporting with reference to the GRI Standards.’
The four key concepts for the GRI Standards are listed in the GRI 1: Foundation 2021 document:
The GRI Standards also identify eight reporting principles that guide the quality and presentation of the reported information. Specific guidance on application of said principles is included in the GRI 1, as well as some suggested best practices for reporting.
The GRI Standards are aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the ILO conventions, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.
Thus, organisations can use the GRI Standards for reporting out on progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). GRI developed guidance for alignment with SDGs after the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Moreover, the GRI Standards are compatible with standards, frameworks, and initiatives issued by other organisations.
This page links the 2016 version of the Universal Standards with related sustainability initiatives such as the SDGs, the SASB Standards, BLab Impact Assessment, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), to name a few.
The GRI Standards provide diverse tools for efficient and comprehensive sustainability reporting by organisations.
Their website includes an FAQ for general questions, a GRI content index template, and an inventory of certified software partners by country, among other resources.
Moreover, as the GRI Standards are marketed as a free public good, the tools are available in the public domain free of cost and usually in English language.
GRI certification processes are also available to third party software or tool providers who want to be GRI-approved, along with a document on GRI’s pricing policy for certification.
The GRI Standards are widely recognised in the sustainability field, as well as specifically incorporated into other third-party sustainability assessments, such as Ecovadis.
Thus, information that is gathered and presented in accordance with the GRI Standards will likely garner high sustainability ratings.
Potential benefits of using the GRI Standards are improved credibility of the organisation and satisfaction of stakeholders plus shareholders.
For instance, a 2017 joint study by the Government & Accountability Institute and Baruch College, City University of New York found that out of 572 total companies, the 481 companies that utilised the GRI Standards scored higher on information quality and degree of verification of ESG disclosure than the 91 counterparts who did not use the Standards.
Applying the GRI Standards to sustainability reporting also helps companies gain a deeper understanding of their material issues, as the Standards provide a blueprint for high-quality data collection and thorough reporting.
This understanding will aid companies in other endeavors, such as risk assessment and future projections.
Moreover, as ESG reporting becomes more commonplace in the private sector, many stakeholders (such as consumers, investors, and employees) expect some sort of formal sustainability reporting process as a matter of due diligence.
The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance reports that over 96% of 2021 Sustainability Reports included a letter from the CEO, signaling to stakeholders that ESG is a priority for senior leadership.
76% of 2021 Sustainability Reports were accompanied by a press release publicising the data, and a majority of companies also included a materiality matrix in their reports to provide stakeholders with more detailed insight into the company’s sustainability strategy.
Given that the GRI Standards was the first globally accepted sustainability standard, it is a reliable starting point for companies that are looking to get started with sustainability reporting.
The GRI reporting process is fairly open-ended as it provides guidance via its Standards, while giving the flexibility to organisations to determine the details of the process according to their needs.
The graphic is from the GRI Standards introduction document, and lays out the typical steps for reporting under the GRI Standards.
The GRI does not require an audit phase, and there is no set timeline for the assessment. The Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) does set out a new work program (involving projects to review existing Standards and develop new ones) every three years to keep the GRI Standards up to date.
Thus, it is recommended that companies using the GRI Standards review and publicly disclose relevant information periodically and with due diligence. This is usually being done annually by organisations in the form of sustainability reporting. Reports may contain a GRI content index.
The content index makes reported information traceable and increases the report’s credibility and transparency.
GRI recommends that organisations report in accordance with the Standards, meaning that the organisation reports on all its material topics and related impacts and how it manages these topics.
However, if this is not feasible, the organisation can choose which content of the GRI Standards to apply and report with reference.
The Universal Standards were revised following recommendations from the GRI Technical Committee on Human Rights Disclosure (a stakeholder group for labor-related disclosures).
The revisions were developed according to a set of mandatory requirements for standard development, and were overseen by the GSSB Due Process Oversight Committee and approved in July 2021.
The changes will officially come into effect on January 1, 2023, although GRI encourages earlier adoption when possible.
The main goals of the revision were to:
Ultimately, the revision led to several key changes, namely:
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