The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has announced a restructured approach to its Sector Standards aimed at accelerating publication timelines, alongside new localisations and updated adoption metrics in its Q3 update.
Approved by the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), the streamlined framework responds to rising demand for sector-specific guidance on material topics and environmental impacts. The revised approach retains the core structure of existing Sector Standards without developing additional sector-specific disclosures. Instead, it identifies likely material topics, outlines significant impacts, and directs reporting entities toward existing Topic Standards.
The first pilot under this format targets the Food and Beverages sector, serving as a proof of concept. GRI is forming an international multi-stakeholder peer review group of up to 20 members, with applications open until 23 October.
Expanding its international accessibility, GRI has published its latest standards in Vietnamese, covering updated disclosures for climate change, energy, biodiversity, and all existing Sector Standards. The suite is now available in 10 languages alongside English, including Arabic, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, French, Japanese, and Spanish.
Data from the State of Sustainability Reporting study, evaluating nearly 15,000 companies across 132 markets, highlights that GRI standards are currently utilised by entities representing 62 per cent of global market capitalisation. Key findings include:
- Jurisdictional reach: At least half of large listed companies report using GRI standards across 45 jurisdictions, including Brazil, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and Türkiye.
- Large multinationals: Adoption reaches 58 per cent among the largest multinational enterprises surveyed.
- Regulatory landscape: Impact reporting requirements now apply to economies accounting for 40 per cent of global GDP, driven by policy developments in the European Union, China, and India.
- Sector concentration: GRI reporting accounts for 85 per cent of market capitalisation in the electronics sector and 82 per cent in oil and gas.
- Core disclosures: Over half of published GRI reports disclose metrics on energy, emissions, occupational health, diversity, waste, water, and anti-corruption.
Additional Q3 developments include the reaffirmation of GRI’s role in corporate land-related disclosures at the UNCCD COP17 in Mongolia, the launch of a capacity-building initiative in Brazil led by Country Manager Danielly A. Mello Freire, and the release of five new GRI Academy courses addressing CDP interoperability, digital taxonomies, and nature-related reporting.
