GRI: the gold standard in CSR reporting

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the gold standard when it comes to CSR reporting: 80% of the world’s 250 largest companies issue Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports in accordance with the GRI Standards.

GRI has pioneered sustainability reporting since the late 1990s, transforming it from a niche practice to a practice embraced today by a growing majority of organizations. With thousands of reporters in over 90 countries, GRI provides the world's most widely used standards on sustainability reporting, enabling businesses, governments, civil society and citizens to make better, sustainable decisions based on information that matters.

In total, more than 5,000 organizations worldwide have used the GRI Standards for their sustainability reporting.GRI's mission is to empower decision makers everywhere, through GRI's sustainability standards and multi-stakeholder network to take action towards a more sustainable economy and world.

Highly adaptable, the GRI Standards are often used in combination with other international initiatives and frameworks, with alliances and synergies committing GRI to joint activity with partner organizations.

Thus, GRI has global strategic partnerships with the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Global Compact, among others. As regards the latter, under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2010 the Global Compact adopts the GRI Standards as the recommended reporting framework for companies to communicate on progress made. The alliance will allow both initiatives to focus on their respective and complementary strengths and will provide companies with a clear, coherent roadmap to corporate sustainability.

A positive chain reaction

Are you part of the supply chain of a company that reports in accordance to GRI?

Enhance your position by engaging with GRI Standards reporting and being well in line with GRI’s sustainability policy

More and more, individuals and companies across the globe are choosing services and products based on how socially responsible a company is. In doing so they not only take into account good CSR practices by a company but also the practices of its suppliers. A company can not claim it did not know and therefore is not responsible for its suppliers' bad practices.

This growing trend can have a positive or negative effect on the bottom line of a company, depending on whether the company is transparent and socially responsible in its operations or not. Companies can show how responsible they are by being transparent and by producing CSR reports in which they account for all their actions.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards guides companies in identifying their major impacts on the environment and their stakeholders, in communicating with their stakeholder groups and in understanding their needs and taking action.

Your company can in turn show through its GRI CSR report that it is a responsible and trusting partner. As a GRI CSR reporter you will then be helping your suppliers to take the right decisions.

By engaging with GRI CSR reporting you become proactive. By employing a framework that allows you to identify risks, you avoid losing business and have the opportunity to facilitate the changes needed for a new sustainable local and world economy.

Companies across the globe that report in accordance to the GRI Standards

Below is a list by sector of companies and organizations that are using GRI’s Sustainability Reporting Standards for their sustainability reporting. Please click on the title of the sector to expand.

References:
http://database.globalreporting.org/search
last updated in this article: March 2016