What is the Global Reporting Initiative? The GRI is a global standard for sustainability reporting designed by organizations and investors to measure business performance. The GRI has been adopted as a requirement by leading institutional investors, government regulators and development organizations around the world. It sets out a universal framework for sustainability reporting based on the shared understanding that such information can provide new insights into how companies operate and their contribution to sustainable development.

1. What is the Global
Reporting Initiative?
The GRI is a global standard for sustainability reporting
designed by organizations and investors to measure business
performance. The GRI has been adopted as a requirement by
leading institutional investors, government regulators and
development organizations around the world. It sets out a
universal framework for sustainability reporting based on the
shared understanding that such information can provide new
insights into how companies operate and their contribution to
sustainable development.
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was established in 1997
when it became clear that there was an increasing need for an
internationally accepted set of standards which would allow
stakeholders - governments, NGOs, investors, consumers etc.,- to
compare consistent information relating to environmental issues
from one company or country with another in order to assess
progress towards sustainability goals and objectives. Since its
inception, the GRI has developed more than 200 Sustainability
Reporting Guidelines, which are available free of charge.
ESG | The Report
What does the GRI do?
The GRI works with its stakeholders to create awareness about
how reporting can support sustainable development. It also
provides practical guidance and reporting tools to help
organizations measure and report on their economic,
environmental and social performance. These include sectorial
supplement guidelines as well as sectorial and thematic thematic
supplements which provide guidance on specific topics such as
human rights, conflict minerals and farm labor. New guidelines
are developed every year in the areas of people, planet and
governance.
Why was the GRI created?

2. To create GRI, an international committee of representatives
from UN organizations, investor agencies, corporations,
practitioners and civil society groups came together to develop
a set of rules or "principles" for sustainability reporting. The
process was designed using the following guiding principles:
inclusion; transparency; comparability; alignment; credibility;
relevance; and insightfulness. These principles are expected to
ensure that sustainability reports show not just what is
happening but how well businesses are performing in relation to
sustainable development goals.
What are the GRI standards?
The Global Reporting Initiative has three interwoven Standards
which apply universally to every entity, company or organization
who are creating reports on their sustainability practices.
6 most important benefits of reporting
1. Transparent and Open: A company can share its assessment
with others without disclosing commercially sensitive
information.
2. Standardized Approach: The GRI Indicators, Guidelines and
reporting requirements provide a framework within which
public and private organizations can report on their
sustainability performance.
3. Co-created: The GRI is a co-developed initiative, not owned
by any organization. It represents the consensus of
investors and other stakeholders about what information
matters most for understanding an organization's impact on
society and the environment; who should report this
information; and how it should be reported.
4. Gap Analysis: The GRI provides a basis for organizations to
assess their own performance and risks relative to other
companies, and to identify opportunities for improvement.
5. Engagement: An organization can engage with its
stakeholders using the same information and reporting
framework as it uses to communicate its sustainability
performance internally and externally, avoiding the need
for multiple frameworks and reports.
6. Donor Appeals: A charity can demonstrate its commitment to
sustainability through the use of the GRI as a means of

3. disclosing information about an organization's performance
on social, environmental and economic impacts. This
provides reassurance that their donations are being used
effectively and efficiently toward these ends.
What are the Sustainability Reporting
Guidelines?
The GRI Standards are divided into three components:
 the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, which provide
guidance for how organizations are to report on economic,
environmental and social performance;
 the Supplement guidelines which provide guidance to
supplement the reporting process in specific areas such as
human rights or climate change;
 and the GRI Guidelines for Report Users, which provide
information on how to read and interpret the contents of a
corporate sustainability report.
The Sustainability Reporting Guidelines are development of more
than 200 guidelines that set out requirements for reporting on
economic, environmental and social performance from an
organization's perspective. The GRI ensures these standards
remain up-to-date by reviewing them at least every four years.
The Sustainability Reporting Guidelines are Approved by GRI's
General Assembly.
Organizations adopting the Standards are encouraged to follow
the framework of the GRI when reporting, but it is their
responsibility to determine what information or data is
appropriate for inclusion in the report. The use of specific
indicators within the framework is not a requirement.
How does the GRI Standards work?
The Sustainability Reporting Guidelines are made up of seven
categories: people, planet, and governance; strategy and
performance management; portfolio management and operations;
stakeholder engagement ; risk, opportunity & impacts ; carbon &

4. energy ; financials [notes]. These categories are further
divided into guidelines which are organized according to
economic, environmental and social performance.
The GRI Standards focus on material aspects of sustainability,
or those that have a significant impact on the organization's
activities.
As organizations continue their journey towards sustainable
development, they use the GRI Standards as an opportunity to
improve their reporting practices in order to provide more in-
depth information about their contribution to sustainable
development.
What are GRI reports?
The Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, which is made up of
three components: the guidelines themselves, the Supplement
guidelines and the Guidelines for Report Users. The Standards
are intended to be used by organizations in building
transparency through reporting on their economic, environmental
and social effects.
In order to achieve this, GRI is committed to working with its
stakeholders in delivering a multi-stakeholder platform for the
development of universal Guidelines through a transparent
process which provides opportunities for input from all
interested parties in a timely manner, thus creating a
foundation for improved decision-making.
Reporting organizations are responsible for determining what
information or data is appropriate for inclusion in their
reports.
What is the function of the Global
Reporting Initiative?
The GRI serves two distinct roles:
1) As an independent standard-setter for sustainability
reporting; and

5. 2) As a platform for global collaboration between companies,
civil society and investors.
The first role is defined by the standard-setting task, which
involves a number of boards and an Advisory Council made up of
representatives from civil society organisations, investors,
companies and others.
The second role is activated through dialogue activities that
place a strong emphasis on sharing knowledge to accelerate
progress towards sustainability goals. In this way, the GRI has
become a platform for global collaboration between companies,
civil society organizations and investors.
What are the three stages of GRI?
1. Issue Identification: A company identifies issues that are
relevant to its business and which affect stakeholders, setting
out what will be included in the report.
2. Assessment/Analysis: An assessment is carried out (either by
the organization itself or by an independent assessor) in order
to establish how the issues identified affect the organization
and its impacts on those affected by it.
3. Reporting: The company provides information to stakeholders
about how this analysis has been carried out, as well as the
results of the assessment and any other relevant issues that
have come to light throughout this process.
What are the GRI series standards?
 The 200 series is comprised of Economic topics
 The 300 series is comprised of Environmental topics
 The 400 series is comprised of Social topics
How are the GRI standards used?

6. The standards set out requirements that organizations can apply
to their own unique context to report on economic,
environmental, and social performance. The standards are
designed for use globally by any organization regardless of size
or sector.
The GRI Standards are used by companies large and small. They
are also adopted as requirements in many countries around the
world, most notably the United States, France, Brazil, Canada,
China, Denmark, Finland, Germany and Korea. This "requirement"
is referred to as a mandatory requirement because these
governments have either passed legislation or issued regulations
requiring publicly listed companies to report on economic,
environmental and social impacts.
What is the purpose of GRI reports?
The primary purposes of a GRI Report are:
1. To allow for comparisons over time;
2. To provide stakeholders with insights into an
organization's performance as it relates to sustainability;
and
3. To enhance transparency and accountability.
The GRI enables comparisons over time by providing a common
framework for organizations to report on their long-term
performance in a way that is independent, credible and
transparent. The quality of data contained within a GRI Report
makes it possible for stakeholders to gain insight into an
organization's current performance relative to its targets and
previous performance. This insight, coupled with the credibility
of a GRI Reports' independent certification, can enhance
accountability and transparency by enabling stakeholders to
engage organizations proactively on issues of key importance to
them.
Who uses the Global reporting Initiative?
The Global Reporting Initiative a universal standard for
sustainability reporting designed by organizations and investors
to measure business performance. The GRI has been adopted as a

7. requirement by leading institutional investors, government
regulators, and development organizations around the world. The
GRI sets out a universal framework for sustainability reporting
based on the shared understanding that such information can
provide new insights into how companies operate and their
contribution to sustainable development.
Why is the Global Reporting Initiative
important?
The GRI is important because it can provide investors with
information that is credible, transparent and independent. It
sets out universal standards for sustainability reporting based
on the belief that such information can provide new insights
into how companies operate and their contribution to sustainable
development.
What is the difference between
sustainability and CSR?
Sustainability is the ability to be sustained. This means that
sustainable actions take into account all aspects of society and
will not harm the future generations. It is about maintaining
the natural resources in order to allow for future generations
to thrive. CSR, or corporate social responsibility, is different
in that it does not always take into account the future
generations. It only focuses on the existing stakeholders in the
company and what they need/want at this point in time.
What is the purpose of sustainability
reporting?
Sustainability reporting is a way for a company to measure their
success in sustainability and provide information about what is
being done. CSR focuses more on benefiting the existing group,
whereas sustainability is all about maintaining resources for

8. future generations by including them from the start. The two
practices also have contrasting goals: one is often focused on
marketing, while the other's goal can be better management of
natural resources.
What are the three ways you can read a
report?
1. Company provides self-assessment: In this case, a company
assesses its own performance in the G4 categories and completes
a report to each of the nine GRI Indicators that it considers
relevant.
2. Company or Investor makes a request: In this case, a request
is made for a report from an organization, either by an investor
asking about their holdings, or by an interested party about an
organization they are evaluating.
3. Company is requested to provide a basic report: this is
agreed by the board of directors or senior management, but does
not constitute a self-assessment. Instead, it contains only
information that the company has chosen to include. This can be
useful if there are concerns about whether a GRI indicator is
relevant or not.
Is sustainability reporting mandatory?
Sustainability reporting is not mandatory, but takes a company's
performance and makes it transparent. In turn, this can help
companies be better-equipped to make profitable decisions to
improve their long-term success. To draw out the most value from
sustainability reporting, it is important for organizations of
all sizes and sectors to produce useful information in a format
that stakeholders understand.
How can GRI sustainability reporting help
organizations?

9. Sustainability reports provide a clear picture of how an
organization operates so investors can track progress. They also
offer a way for stakeholders to engage with organizations
proactively to ensure accountability and transparency.
In conclusion on global reporting
initiative gri
In conclusion, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a global
standard for sustainability reporting designed by organizations
and investors to measure business performance. The GRI has been
adopted as a requirement by leading institutional investors,
government regulators and development organizations around the
world. Sustainability reporting helps companies be more
efficient and profitable through better management of natural
resources. It also enables them to better engage with
stakeholders and hold themselves accountable for their actions.
Caveats, disclaimers and define gri
We have covered many topics in this article and want to be clear
that any reference to, or mention of revised universal
standards, reporting companies, united nations environment
programme, international organization, comprehensive
sustainability reporting framework, gri reporting,
intergovernmental expectations, reporting framework,
multinational enterprises, gri designation, human rights,
corporate social responsibility, sustainability performance,
global standards, stakeholder groups, gri guidelines, governance
bodies, universal standards, other organizations, national
association, reporting standards, supply chain, promotes
economic, helps businesses, standards for sustainability
reporting, social sustainability, modular structure, reporting,
core option, environmental, environment, accordance with the
gri, enable, principles, services, businesses, widely,
governance, country, resources, transparency, biodiversity,
business, accordance, association, revised, world, emissions,
network, reports, management, standards, practices, identified,
advancing, advice, realtors or health in the context of this
article is purely for informational purposes and not to be
misconstrued with investment advice or personal opinion. Thank

10. you for reading, we hope that you found this article useful in
your quest to understand ESG.