Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
communicate their economic, environmental and social performance. This framework
has been developed, and is regularly reviewed, by a wide range of business, civil
society, trade union and professional stakeholders. The major aim of the GRI is to
promote a standardized approach to reporting, to stimulate demand for sustainability
information, and facilitate the implementation of sustainability reporting through
the provision of learning materials and the accreditation of partner organizations.
The GRI network consists of around 30,000 stakeholders, including more than 1,000
companies, among which are many leading brands who have adopted the guidelines.
The third version of the centre's sustainability reporting guidelines (G3) was developed
with the financial assistance of BP, Shell, GM, Microsoft, Alcan, Ford and the RBC
financial group and published in 2006 as a free public good available on the Internet.
The G3 framework includes 'sector supplements' (specific indicators for industry
sectors such as finance, telecommunications, mining and metals, transportation, and
the automotive industry), 'protocols' (detailed reporting guidance on content, quality,
boundary-setting, performance and management disclosure) and 'national annexes'
(addressing country and/or regional sustainability issues). Although the multi-
stakeholder approach was welcomed by many sustainability practitioners, not all
were satisfied with the unwieldy range of indicators included, the degree of information
companies were required to produce that may or may not have been relevant to
their market sector or the assumptions underlying some of them. In May 2013 GRI
issued its fourth-generation guidelines (G4), which took many of these criticisms
into account with an increased emphasis on the need for businesses to concentrate
the reporting process and final report on those topics that are materially relevant to
the business itself and its key stakeholders. G4 therefore seems to be more streamlined,
easier to use and more straightforward than previous guidelines. A few new standard
disclosures have been introduced too, including one on 'Ethics and Integrity'.
Sustainability reports based on the GRI framework from major companies such as
BMW and Coca-Cola are freely available and may be used to benchmark and compare
organizational performance, demonstrating as well as communicating organizational
commitment to sustainable development.
The GRI also undertakes research with partners on sustainability. In 2007 it
published the results of a survey conducted by itself and KPMG, 'Reporting the
business implications of climate change in sustainability report' (GRI, 2007). It
discovered that most companies reported on the potential opportunities of climate
change, such as new products, services and trading, rather than the financial or legal
risks. The reasons for this included the desire to seek new profits so the perception
or even identification of long-term risks and the need for a new ecological paradigm
for business organization and activity was largely beyond business planning and
reporting horizons. However, greenhouse gas emissions and emissions trading were
frequently reported on, and for nearly one-third of the companies surveyed climate
change was presented as a major issue of stakeholder dialogue and engagement. For
the oil and gas sector, climate change issues are becoming linked with organizational
reputation and brand value, but many other companies did not explicitly make the
same connection.
The GRI focuses on corporate external communication of sustainability in business
and requires the publication of qualitative and quantitative, systemic micro and
macro, and some cross-cutting indicators. The GRI's sustainability reporting guidelines
encompass three connected elements:
