GRI Standards
Definition
GRI Standards
The GRI Standards are the impact-oriented sustainability reporting standards used more widely than any other worldwide. They report outward, on effects an organisation has on the world, which is the opposite lens to the investor standards filed alongside them.
Global Reporting Initiative began issuing guidelines in 2000 and moved to a modular standards structure in 2016. The current architecture dates from a 2021 revision.
Standard setting sits with an independent board rather than with the organisation itself, which is the arrangement that gives the standards their credibility with non-investor readers.
For an outsourcing provider they are the framework most likely to appear in a client’s supplier questionnaire — usually as a list of disclosure numbers with no explanation attached.
Key takeaways
- The standards come in three series: Universal, Sector and Topic.
- The Universal Standards were published in 2021 and took effect for reporting from 1 January 2023.
- Standard setting is governed by the Global Sustainability Standards Board.
- GRI and the IFRS Foundation describe their standards as two complementary pillars.
How it works
Reporting under the standards begins with the Universal Standards, which apply to every organisation regardless of size, sector or location, and which set out how to determine what the organisation should report on in the first place.
Sector Standards then add expectations for particular industries, and Topic Standards supply the disclosures for each subject the organisation has identified as material to it.
The structure is set out by the standard setter. The Universal Standards “incorporate reporting on human rights and environmental due diligence, in line with intergovernmental expectations, and apply to all organizations”.
The other two series are narrower by design. Sector Standards enable “more consistent reporting on sector-specific impacts”, and Topic Standards “list disclosures relevant to a particular topic”.
Timing is documented. The Universal Standards — GRI 1, GRI 2 and GRI 3 — “were published in October 2021 and came into effect for reporting on 1 January 2023”.
| Series | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Universal | Applies to every reporting organisation | GRI 3 on determining material topics |
| Sector | Adds industry-specific expectations | Standards for oil and gas, agriculture, coal |
| Topic | Supplies disclosures for one subject | GRI 101 on biodiversity, published January 2024 |
Topic standards continue to be revised. GRI 101: Biodiversity 2024 “updates, expands, and replaces GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016”, and was published on 25 January 2024 ahead of taking effect for reporting from 2026.
The relationship with the investor-focused standards is now formal. The IFRS Foundation states that its board “will continue to focus on meeting the information needs of investors” while the GRI board focuses on an organisation’s most significant impacts.
Examples
The standards show up in outsourcing as a request to answer, a claim to make or a differentiator to sell. The four situations below are the ones that recur, and the last is where a common claim quietly fails.
A European client sends a supplier questionnaire mapped to GRI disclosure numbers. The Philippine provider answering it has to produce workforce, training and energy data in the shape the standard specifies.
An Indian technology firm publishes a GRI-referenced report covering its own operations and its supply chain. The report is used in bid documents more often than it is read by investors.
A group publishes both a GRI report and an investor-focused sustainability statement. The GRI report covers community and workforce impacts the financial standards never ask about.
A provider claims to report “in accordance with” the standards while omitting material topics. That claim is a defined term in GRI 1, and omitting material topics forfeits it.
Related terms
Sustainability vocabulary mixes frameworks, concepts and instruments that are easy to confuse. The entries below separate the reporting standard from the ideas it measures and the products it feeds.
- ESG environmental social governance: the subject matter these standards structure.
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): the global targets many GRI reports map against.
- Reporting outsourcing: contracting out the report preparation itself.
- Greenwashing: what a standards-based report is meant to prevent.
- Sustainable investing: the investor lens, served better by the other pillar.
- Record to report (R2R): the finance process now carrying non-financial data too.
- Benchmarking: comparing reported performance, which these standards support cautiously.
FAQ
Who sets the GRI Standards?
The Global Sustainability Standards Board, an independent body. Separating standard setting from the organisation itself is what gives the output its authority.
Are the standards mandatory?
Not in themselves. They become effectively mandatory where a regulator, a stock exchange or a large customer requires reporting against them.
How do they differ from the IFRS sustainability standards?
GRI reports impacts on people and the environment for all stakeholders. The IFRS standards report sustainability risks and opportunities that matter financially to investors.
What does “in accordance with” mean?
It is a defined claim requiring an organisation to meet all reporting requirements, including covering every material topic it has identified.
Can an organisation use only some standards?
Yes, through a GRI-referenced claim. That is weaker than reporting in accordance and should be described accurately.
Which standard covers biodiversity now?
GRI 101, which replaced GRI 304.
Understand what buyers now expect from provider disclosure at Outsource Accelerator.
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