The GRI’s new Integrity Matters Checklist turns UN-HLEG guidance into a practical tool for checking corporate climate claims. It pushes firms to back their pledges with real data, clarify transition plans, and show clear fossil fuel phase-out steps. Investors can use it to spot greenwashing more easily.
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Picture Courtesy: DOWNTOEARTH
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has launched a new tool to help companies and investors align their climate disclosures with the United Nations’ standards for credible net-zero commitments and transition plans.
It is an independent, international organization founded in 1997 in partnership with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
It offers global sustainability reporting standards, providing a common language for organizations to publicly disclose their economic, environmental, and social impacts.
Its standard-setting activities are governed by the independent Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB).
Its headquarter is located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Materiality
Focus reporting on the most significant economic, environmental, and social impacts of the organization, or those topics that most influence stakeholder decisions.
Stakeholder Inclusiveness
Identify and engage with all primary stakeholders (e.g., investors, customers, employees, communities) and clearly explain how their concerns and interests have been addressed in the report.
Completeness
Report must be comprehensive, covering all material topics and scope, to give stakeholders a complete and accurate basis for assessing performance.
Sustainability Context
Present the organization's performance within the broader context of global sustainability, benchmarked against established goals (such as the Paris Agreement objectives) and ecological limits.
GRI Universal Standards (GRI 1, 2, and 3)
Mandatory for all organizations preparing a GRI report.
They establish foundational principles, require general organizational disclosures, and guide the determination of material topics.
GRI Sector Standards
Applicable to specific sectors with significant impacts (e.g., agriculture, mining, oil and gas).
Organizations must use relevant sector standards to help identify likely material topics.
GRI Topic Standards
A collection of specific disclosures covering subjects like anti-corruption, energy, human rights, waste, and occupational health and safety.
Organizations select appropriate topic standards based on the material topics they have identified.
Building Trust Through Enhanced Transparency
Public disclosure of sustainability impacts promote trust with stakeholders, reducing information asymmetry and signaling a responsible business approach.
Strengthening Risk Management and Identifying Opportunities
Reporting process helps companies identify and manage climate-related risks (e.g., new carbon taxes, supply chain disruptions) while uncovering new opportunities (e.g., resource efficiency, green technologies).
Attracting Responsible Capital
Strong GRI reporting positively impacts an organization's ability to attract the growing volume of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investment, which reached $30.3 trillion at the start of 2022. (Source: Global Sustainable Investment Alliance 2023)
Driving Operational Efficiency
Data collection for GRI reports illuminates internal inefficiencies, leading to cost savings through targeted reductions in energy, water, and waste.
Source: DOWNTOEARTH
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PRACTICE QUESTION Q. Which of the following is the most appropriate description of the 'Greenhushing' term recently seen in the news? A) Practice of a company overstating its environmental achievements to appear more sustainable. B) Deliberate under-reporting of a company's genuine environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts. C) Regulatory framework forcing companies to disclose their complete carbon emission data. D) Mechanism to provide 'Green Credits' to industries that achieve specific ecological targets. Answer: B Explanation: Greenhushing is when a company deliberately minimizes or hides public communication about its genuine sustainability achievements and environmental goals. Companies do this to avoid public criticism or accusations of "greenwashing." It is the opposite of greenwashing, where environmental claims are exaggerated. |
The GRI is an independent, international, non-profit organization that provides the world's most widely used standards for sustainability reporting. Its mission is to help organizations be transparent and take responsibility for their impacts on people and the planet by providing a common global language for reporting these impacts.
GRI Standards are used by companies and other organizations to understand, measure, and publicly communicate their impacts on a range of environmental, social, and economic issues (ESG). The resulting reports help build trust with stakeholders, manage risks and opportunities, and support strategic decision-making.
The use of GRI Standards is voluntary for most organizations. However, sustainability reporting is increasingly becoming a regulatory requirement in many jurisdictions (such as the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive - CSRD), and the GRI Standards are widely used to meet these mandatory disclosure needs.
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