A comprehensive new analysis has revealed that the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) remains the world’s most widely used sustainability disclosure standard, with companies utilising GRI accounting for 62% of global market capitalisation.
The report, titled The State of Sustainability Reporting: Global Trends in the GRI Standards 2025, analysed disclosures from nearly 15,000 listed companies across 132 jurisdictions, focusing on organisations with annual revenues exceeding USD 250 million. The findings demonstrate that despite political pushback against the sustainability agenda in 2025, corporate reporting practices are expanding rather than retreating.
The research highlights that sustainability disclosure has become a multi-framework practice. Large businesses frequently combine GRI with other frameworks, including the TCFD, SASB, CDP, ISSB, ESRS, and TNFD. Crucially, the adoption of newer standards has not displaced GRI; 80% of companies using ISSB standards and 70% of those under the European ESRS continue to reference GRI.
Geographically, GRI’s footprint is extensive, covering firms headquartered in 107 jurisdictions. The standard holds a 71% market capitalisation share in the Global South, with adoption rates outpacing mature Western markets. The highest corporate adoption rates were recorded in Asia and Latin America, led by Taiwan (95%), Argentina (82%), Colombia (79%), and Singapore (76%). Meanwhile, market capitalisation share remains robust in traditional financial hubs, sitting at 65% in the UK, 64% in the EU, and 57% in the USA.
Robin Hodess, Chief Executive Officer of GRI, noted that the data proves corporate reporting is not an “either/or” choice between financial and impact materiality. Hodess emphasised that the two approaches are complementary, and that coherent, credible, and comparable reporting ultimately drives actionable business value.
The study, which reflects reporting practices up to the end of 2025, confirmed that 87% of the world’s large-cap listed companies now actively publish sustainability data.
