New GRI document to help firms report their SDGs progress

12 / 05 / 2020

By Marwa Nassar - -

The  Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) issued a new document – entitled Linking the SDGs and the GRI Standards – to help companies report the progress they realized in supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the GRI Standards.

The  Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the independent international organization that helps businesses, governments other organizations understand and communicate their impacts. The GRI Standards are the world’s most widely used for sustainability reporting.

The document covers and maps them against the GRI Standards and disclosures that apply for each. This makes it easier for organizations to use their reporting through the GRI Standards to assess how they impact the SDGs.

Revised to cover all new and updated GRI Standards, the document replaces a previous version from 2016 (which was part of the SDGs Compass). It now includes GRI 207: Tax 2019, GRI 403: Occupational Health & Safety 2018, and GRI 303: Water & Effluents 2018.

GRI has developed tools and initiatives that help enable a strong private sector role in measuring and achieving the SDGs. This includes the Business reporting on the SDGs resources, created in collaboration with UN Global Compact. Meanwhile, examples of corporate SDG reporting were launched in February.

Driving Corporate Action Towards Accomplishing the SDGs, a partnership led by GRI and Enel, continues this year. This project has involved online collaboration forums, to explore how to increase the SDGs contribution made by companies. The next stage will include regional events to develop new solutions and continue the dialogue.

All countries should encourage companies to adopt sustainable business practices and include sustainability data in their corporate reporting.