The GRI Professional Certification Programme seeks to help sustainability professionals strengthen their skills, knowledge, and expertise when applying the GRI Standards for sustainability reporting. Professionals need to complete a series of certified courses which cover the fundamentals of GRI reporting, in preparation for GRI’s final certification exam. After completing all courses, they are qualified to take the GRI Certification Exam.

The certification exam and the title GRI Certified Sustainability Professional will enable sustainability professionals to demonstrate that they completed certified training and possess the unique skills and expertise of a GRI Certified Sustainability Professional, so as to address growing sustainability compliance challenges. Their name will also appear on the GRI website.

This article explains the what and why.
Practical implementation is a separate step.

What you need to study

• GRI 1: Foundation 2021
• GRI 1: Foundation 2021 introduces the purpose and system of the GRI Standards, explaining key sustainability reporting concepts. GRI 1 also sets out the requirements and reporting principles organizations will have to observe to report in accordance with the GRI Standards.

• GRI 2: General Disclosures 2021
• GRI 2: General Disclosures 2021 contains disclosures that organizations will use to provide information on, among others, their reporting practices, policies, strategy, governance, and stakeholder engagement. This information provides a context for comprehending an organization’s environmental, social and other impacts.

• GRI 3: Material Topics 2021
• GRI 3: Material Topics 2021 provides guidance to organizations on determining their material topics, also explaining how to use GRI’s Sector Standards. Material topics relate to an organization’s most important impacts on the environment, economy, and people, together with impacts on their human rights. Additionally, GRI 3 includes disclosures for organizations to report how they manage their material topics.

In addition to GRI 1, GRI 2 and GRI 3, professionals are also advised to study:

• Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework
• These Guiding Principles provide an authoritative global standard to prevent and address the risk of negative human rights impacts linked to business operations, based on three pillars: protect, respect and remedy.

Feeling overwhelmed? That’s normal.

Most professionals reading this are not trying to become sustainability experts.
They simply want to:

• avoid mistakes
• meet expectations
• build something they won’t have to redo next year

That’s exactly how SustainCase is designed.

If any of these sound like you, start here:

 I’m new and don’t know where to begin
 I need to report, but only proportionately
 I’m under time pressure
 I want to do this once and do it properly

How to Begin Sustainability Reporting — Safely

A short, practical orientation used by professionals before they commit time or budget.

Key facts about the GRI Certification Exam

• The price of the exam is €250. GRI Community Members are entitled to a 25% discount.
• Candidates will have to answer 40 multiple choice questions in 60 minutes
• The passing score for the GRI Certification Exam is 75%
• Once purchasing the exam, candidates can start right away or take the exam within one year

• Candidates not passing the certification exam or whose exam attempt is judged as inadmissible may retake the exam, but will need to purchase it again

• After passing the exam, candidates receive a certificate of achievement from GRI, awarding them the status of ‘GRI Certified Sustainability Professional’

Prepare for success! GRI Certification Mock Exam (Self paced)

Developed by FBRH Consultants, an experienced GRI Global Certified Training Partner, the FBRH Mock Exam is your strategic gateway to succeed in the GRI Certification exam. Our proven methodology, developed over years of experience, empowers you to succeed through our carefully developed mock exam. Continuously securing 95%+, this mock exam helps you ensure you are well-equipped to surpass the 75% GRI Exam requirement. Three sets of questions modelled on the GRI exam. Take the exam as many times as you wish.

Link to FREE SAMPLE

Link to FULL version (£15) – three sets of questions.

NEW: If you’ve followed one of our GRI learning paths, you can now test your knowledge with a matching mock exam — designed to reflect exactly what you studied.

Learning Path A → Mock Exam A
– Reporting with the GRI Standards
– Reporting on Human Rights with the GRI Standards
– Navigating the GRI Sector Standards
– Transparency for Tomorrow: Decoding the Sustainability Reporting Landscape (2025)

Learning Path B → Mock Exam B
– Reporting with the GRI Standards
– Reporting on Human Rights with the GRI Standards
– Integrating the SDGs into your reporting process

Each mock exam is currently 50% off (£15) and includes a free 10-question sample, so you can try before committing.
No pressure. No charge upfront.
Just a smart way to check if you’re ready for the real thing.

What happens next (if you want this to work):

1. Get oriented
2. Decide scope
3. Build once, not twice
4. Grow capability over time

SustainCase exists to support that journey — proportionately.

References:

1) https://finance.ec.europa.eu/capital-markets-union-and-financial-markets/company-reporting-and-auditing/company-reporting/corporate-sustainability-reporting_en

2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/standards-development/universal-standards/

3) https://www.globalreporting.org/reporting-support/gri-academy/

4) https://www.globalreporting.org/media/f4qlxr53/gri-standards-exam-policy.pdf

5) https://www.unglobalcompact.org/library/5628

6) https://www.unglobalcompact.org/library/2

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.

The post How to prepare for the GRI Certification Exam: Becoming a GRI Certified Sustainability Professional appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

The learning you gain

This course introduces participants to sustainability reporting practice and to key concepts of the GRI sustainability reporting Standards such as the reporting principles, impact, stakeholder engagement, material topics. Course attendees will become familiar with sustainability challenges, understand what sustainable development is and the benefits of reporting.

After attending the course participants will be able to:

• List the key elements of a sustainability report and the value and benefits of reporting
• Explain the structure, features and key concepts of the GRI Standards
• Define sustainability through a holistic, structured, multi-dimensional approach
• Describe sustainability challenges and demonstrate how reporting contributes to sustainable development

Questions to ask yourself when choosing a preparation programme – GRI Academy or a CTP-Certified Training Partner:

• Does the CTP have experience? What other clients have they worked with?
• Are there testimonials or reviews available?
• Is there an instructor for you to ask questions?
• After the course, are you equipped with resources you can implement right away?

The FBRH Difference

• Pre-Course Preparation: Our pre-course preparation questionnaire helps us understand your specific needs
• Post-Course Info Pack: After the course you will receive a valuable post-course information pack
• Exclusive templates, exclusive case studies that you can adopt and adapt to your organisation’s needs
• You will be able, immediately, to prepare your sustainability action plan

Why FBRH

• After successfully completing the course you will receive GRI, CPD and ISEP completion certificates
• FBRH Consultants has 24 years of experience
• Attendees’ reviews provide key insights regarding the course’s high quality
• FBRH’s clients include some of the world’s biggest companies

78% of the world’s 250 largest companies report in accordance with the GRI Standards

SustainCase was primarily created to demonstrate, through case studies, the importance of dealing with a company’s most important impacts in a structured way, with use of the GRI Standards. To show how today’s best-run companies are achieving economic, social and environmental success – and how you can too.

Research by well-recognised institutions is clearly proving that responsible companies can look to the future with optimism.

7 GRI sustainability disclosures get you started

Any size business can start taking sustainability action

GRI, ISEP, CPD Certified Sustainability courses (2-5 days): Live Online or Classroom  (venue: London School of Economics)

• Exclusive FBRH template to begin reporting from day one
• Identify your most important impacts on the Environment, Economy and People
• Formulate in group exercises your plan for action. Begin taking solid, focused, all-round sustainability action ASAP. 
• Benchmarking methodology to set you on a path of continuous improvement

See upcoming training dates.

The post Learn how to Create a 1st-Class GRI Sustainability Report appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

Because the learning in FBRH’s full academic preparation for the GRI Professional Certification Exam is so intense, FBRH offers a free mock exam to help participants reinforce the knowledge they have gained.

Test your knowledge with this 10-question free sample!

NEW: If you’ve followed one of our GRI learning paths, you can now test your knowledge with a matching mock exam — designed to reflect exactly what you studied.

Learning Path A → Mock Exam A
– Reporting with the GRI Standards
– Reporting on Human Rights with the GRI Standards
– Navigating the GRI Sector Standards
– Transparency for Tomorrow: Decoding the Sustainability Reporting Landscape (2025)

Learning Path B → Mock Exam B
– Reporting with the GRI Standards
– Reporting on Human Rights with the GRI Standards
– Integrating the SDGs into your reporting process

Each mock exam is currently 50% off (£15) and includes a free 10-question sample, so you can try before committing.
No pressure. No charge upfront.
Just a smart way to check if you’re ready for the real thing.

The post Mock Exam Free Sample appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.