Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), an independent, international organization that provides the world’s most widely used standards for sustainability reporting, launched the revised Universal Standards. The GRI Standards have today been strengthened so they deliver the highest level of transparency for impacts on the economy, environment and people, with a major update to the very foundation of the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting standards.
The revised Universal Standards will:
· Bring a razor-sharp focus to determining material topics, with clarity on reporting principles, requirements and structure – ensuring reports are of the highest quality, informing improved decision-making by reporting organizations and information users alike.
· Provide the first and only reporting standards to fully reflect due diligence expectations for organizations to manage their sustainability impacts, including on human rights, as set forth in intergovernmental instruments by the UN and OECD.
· Enable consistent and comparable reporting, best positioning companies to respond to emerging regulatory requirements, such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the enterprise value reporting plans by the IFRS Foundation.
Also unveiled today is the publication of the first GRI Sector Standard – for oil and gas – as part of GRI’s integrated and complete modular system of sustainability reporting. Organizations begin with the Universal Standards, then their applicable Sector Standards alongside relevant Topic Standards.
The addition of Sector Standards will help companies focus reporting on the issues that matter most within their sectors, to address their shared challenges on sustainable development. With 40 sectors identified, standards for coal, mining, agriculture, aquaculture and fishing are already under development.
Judy Kuszewski, Chair of GRI’s independent Global Sustainability Standard’s Board, stated: “With the most significant change since the GRI Standards launched in 2016, the revised Universal Standards set a new global benchmark for corporate transparency. Fully addressing gaps between the available disclosure frameworks and intergovernmental expectations for responsible business, including human rights reporting, they will enable more effective and comprehensive reporting than ever before. Built around the concepts of impact, material topics, due diligence and stakeholder engagement, these updates make it clear how companies can provide transparency and accountability in what they report. We are providing them with the tools to demonstrate understanding of their impacts and respond to the information demands of their stakeholders, including investors, governments, and civil society.”
The Universal Standards 2021 are freely available for download and come into effect for reporting from 1 January 2023, with early adoption encouraged.
