What is the ESRS Certification Program?

The GRI ESRS Professional Certification Program is a structured, comprehensive curriculum tailored for professionals involved in CSRD-aligned sustainability reporting. It equips participants with the expertise required to implement the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) effectively.

Developed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the program includes six targeted courses followed by a certification exam.

Who Should Take the GRI ESRS Certification?

The program is ideal for: Sustainability and ESG professionals CSRD project managers and leads Compliance officers and internal auditors Financial teams supporting sustainability reporting Consultants offering ESRS advisory services

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

Key facts about the GRI ESRS Professional Certification Exam

• Number of Questions: 40
• Time Limit: 60 minutes
• Passing Score: 75%
• Retakes: Up to three attempts within 6 months (7-day wait between attempts)

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.

Boost Your Success Rate: FBRH ESRS Certification Mock Exam (self paced)

Developed by FBRH Consultants, an experienced GRI Global Certified Training Partner, the FBRH ESRS Certification Mock Exam is your strategic gateway to succeed in the GRI ESRS Certification Exam. Our proven methodology, developed over years of experience, empowers you to succeed through our carefully developed mock exam. Our pro tip: a 95%+ average score with this practice exam will help you confidently exceed the 75% pass mark required by GRI. Three sets of 40 questions modelled on the GRI ESRS Certification Exam.

Why Choose the FBRH ESRS Mock Exam?

Who Should Take This Exam? 

Buy the Full Mock Exam

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:

https://www.globalreporting.org/academy/faqs

The post How to pass the GRI ESRS Professional Certification Exam appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

Before you register for the GRI ESRS exam or invest in training, understand what the certification actually tests, what success requires, and where most candidates go wrong.

As interest in ESRS certification grows, many sustainability and ESG professionals assume that:

“If I understand ESRS, I’ll be fine.”

In practice, this assumption often leads to:

• under-preparation
• exam stress
• costly retakes
• and misplaced confidence

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

The GRI ESRS Certification Briefing was created to close this gap.

Produced by FBRH Consultants, a GRI Certified Training Partner, this briefing distils what professionals most need to understand before they commit to the certification process.

What You’ll Gain from This Briefing This PDF briefing helps you understand:

• What the GRI ESRS certification actually signals professionally
• How the certification pathway works at a high level
• What the exam is designed to test (and what it is not)
• Why preparation method matters more than time spent
• What successful candidates consistently do differently

This is not exam coaching and not promotional material.
It is a clarity document designed to help you make informed decisions.

Who This Briefing Is For

This briefing is relevant if you are:

• Responsible for ESRS or CSRD reporting
• Advising organisations on sustainability or ESG
• Preparing for assurance, audit, or compliance roles
• Considering ESRS certification as a career signal

Download the GRI ESRS Certification Briefing (PDF)

The post GRI ESRS Certification Briefing: What the certification involves – how to prepare effectively appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

As organisations across Europe prepare for ESRS reporting under the CSRD, many assume the challenge is technical: understanding standards, datapoints, and disclosure requirements.

A practical PDF guide outlining the most common ESRS reporting mistakes under CSRD — and how organisations can avoid them.

In practice, the biggest ESRS failures rarely come from missing knowledge.
They come from how organisations approach ESRS in the first place.

Based on our work with sustainability, ESG, and compliance teams, we consistently see the same structural mistakes — mistakes that quietly increase workload, create assurance risk, and lead to costly rework later on.

Below are some of the most common ESRS pitfalls organisations fall into — often with the best intentions.

1. Treating ESRS as “just another report”

A common starting point is to treat ESRS like a traditional sustainability report: gather information, draft disclosures, and aim to produce a document.

The problem?
ESRS is not a document exercise — it is a system.

Without a repeatable process that links governance, data, controls, and documentation, disclosures quickly become inconsistent and difficult to defend under assurance.

Many organisations only realise this when auditors start asking how decisions were made — not just what was reported.

2. Starting with the standards instead of double materiality

ESRS standards are detailed and extensive. It’s tempting to start by working through datapoints and requirements one by one.

This almost always leads to:

• overreporting
• wasted effort
• unclear sustainability messages

A defensible ESRS report does not start with the standards.
It starts with double materiality, properly planned and documented.

When materiality is weak, everything downstream becomes harder.

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

3. Weak or informal stakeholder engagement

Stakeholder engagement is sometimes treated as a box-ticking exercise — a survey here, a workshop there.

Under ESRS, this is risky.

If engagement lacks structure, purpose, and documentation, materiality decisions become difficult to defend. Assurance teams look closely at how stakeholder input influenced outcomes — not whether engagement happened at all.

4. Overreporting to “be safe”

One of the most damaging ESRS instincts is the idea that “more disclosure is safer disclosure”.

In reality, overreporting:

• obscures what is truly material
• increases audit burden
• weakens clarity for users of the report

ESRS rewards focus, not volume. Achieving that focus requires planning — not last-minute filtering.

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.

5. Making key judgments without an audit trail

Every ESRS report involves judgment calls:

• scope decisions
• prioritisation
• assumptions

When these judgments are not clearly documented, organisations expose themselves to assurance findings and credibility issues — even if the final disclosures look reasonable on the surface.

6. Leaving data and systems to the end

Many teams draft ESRS disclosures first and only later realise that:

• data owners are unclear
• systems don’t support requirements
• controls are missing

This creates stress, rework, and compliance risk — often late in the reporting cycle.

The common thread behind all these mistakes

Across all of these issues, one pattern stands out:

Lack of structured planning.

Without planning, ESRS becomes reactive.
With planning, ESRS becomes manageable, defensible, and strategically useful.

Planning is what connects:

• materiality
• stakeholder engagement
• data collection
• documentation
• assurance readiness
• digital reporting

And yet, it’s the part most organisations underestimate.

Want the full list of ESRS mistakes — and how to avoid them?

We’ve put together a concise, practical guide that outlines:

• the top ESRS mistakes organisations make
• why they happen
• what to do differently to avoid rework, confusion, and assurance risk

A practical PDF guide outlining the most common ESRS reporting mistakes under CSRD — and how organisations can avoid them.

The guide is designed for sustainability, ESG, compliance, audit, and reporting professionals who want a clear, structured approach to ESRS — without guesswork.

Download the free PDF: Top ESRS Mistakes to Avoid

Why we created this guide

ESRS does not fail because organisations don’t care.
It fails when complexity isn’t matched with structure.

The goal of this guide is not to overwhelm — but to help teams recognise early warning signs and approach ESRS more confidently and responsibly.

The post ESRS Reporting: Why Most Organisations Get It Wrong (Without Realising It) appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

Today I’m joined by Paul Broekhof, **Director of Education at the Global Reporting Initiative.

GRI is not only the global pioneer of sustainability reporting which is currently used by over 78% of the largest 250 global companies — it is also a co-constructor of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, the ESRS.

Paul leads GRI’s global education and certification programmes, including the GRI-certified ESRS pathway that leads to the title “GRI Certified ESRS Sustainability Professional.”

Today we’ll talk about how ESRS learning is designed to stay robust despite regulatory change, and what that means for professionals deciding whether now is the right time to start.

Paul, welcome — it’s great to have you with us.

Simon Pitsillides: ESRS is still evolving. How has GRI designed its learning so it stays robust even when the regulation itself continues to change?

Paul Broekhof: Hi Simon, thank you for having me on your podcast.

We designed the certification program for reporting with the ESRS in 2024. Looking at what was ahead, looking at the challenges that so many companies would be facing once they were obligated to start reporting with the ESRS, we asked ourselves: how can we best support the thousands of reporters-to-be. Many of them would be new to sustainability reporting, so what should we focus on first? We decided that the best way to start would be to focus on the reporting process, rather than on the content and disclosures of the standards. By “reporting process”, I mean everything from scoping and stakeholder engagement through materiality analysis, data collection, assurance, and ultimately publishing.  After all, reporters spend some time reading the specific datapoints they need to report on and collecting data., but when producing a report for the first time, it is crucial to also understand all the steps involved in the reporting process — and this is where guidance from us can be especially helpful. Once that foundation was in place, we planned to create courses on specific standards, a bit like we have done for some of the GRI Standards. So the idea was always to make learners familiar with the reporting journey, the process, before diving into the details of the standards. This design choice has proven to be very robust, because, as you well know, in February 2025, the Omnibus proposal was published. It proposed a lot of changes to the CSRD and the ESRS, but these changes hardly touched upon the actual reporting process.

SP: GRI often describes ESRS learning as process-based rather than version-dependent. What does that actually mean in practice for professionals on the ground?

PB: Indeed, the ESRS training courses are based on the reporting process. That means that anyone who is or will be involved in reporting with the ESRS for their own company or for their clients will build a solid and practical foundation by taking our ESRS certification program. To give you two examples, the ESRS course on stakeholder engagement is relevant to the ESRS reporting process, regardless of which elements of the Omnibus proposal are accepted by the EU and its member countries. Even though different reporting standards may use slightly different definitions of stakeholders, the practice and principles of stakeholder engagement apply to all of them, not only to ESRS reporting but also to reporting with the GRI standards. It is a pretty generic skill to have.

A second example is the ESRS course on double materiality. It is one of the core concepts of the ESRS, and it basically means that when looking at sustainability matters, for example climate change, one should not only look at how climate change affects the company and its investors financially, let’s say the financial angle, but also at how the company itself affects climate change and what impacts it has on its stakeholders, which is the impact angle. That concept is still at the core of ESRS reporting and will be long after the dust around the proposed changes to the ESRS is settled, even if some technicalities do end up changing in the amended ESRS

So even if specific datapoints or thresholds change following the Omnibus proposal, having the skills to perform solid stakeholder engagement and materiality assessment doesn’t become obsolete – they’re transferable across reporting instruments and over time.

SP: What are the core skills and ways of thinking that ESRS learning is really trying to build, beyond just understanding the standards themselves?

PB: Well, as you know, GRI has played an important role in the creation of the ESRS. Much of what characterizes the GRI Standards has been adopted in the ESRS. Sustainability reporting is our core business, so to speak, so that is what we cover in our courses. As I mentioned earlier, the ESRS are based on double materiality. Our training course on double materiality will give the learners a solid and much-needed understanding of what double materiality is and how it applies not only to the ESRS but also to regions of the world where the IFRS Sustainability Standards, are being introduced. In today’s world, sustainability reporting is about impact and financial materiality and anyone involved in sustainability reporting should be aware of the different reporting tools for both.

Now, double materiality may be a core aspect of the ESRS, but we cover a lot more in the ESRS certification program. We tried to cover every aspect of the reporting process, and  that is how we came up with a program, of six courses. It starts with a quick introduction to the CSRD and the ESRS, then moving on to stakeholder engagement, double materiality assessment, and data collection. That last one, the data collection course is the one where we really dive into some of the reporting standards themselves, like E1, about climate change, S2, about workers in the value chain and G1 which is about Business Conduct.

But we also included a course on preparing for external assurance. The required level of external assurance was changed through the Omnibus proposal (now organizations need to prepare for limited assurance only), but the fact that external assurance must be done has not changed. Assurance is likely to be something new for first-time sustainability reporters, and this course prepares them for it.

The last course I want to mention is the digital reporting course, which covers another generic concept. Of course, the concept of digital sustainability reporting is not unique to the ESRS, but it is a recent development that many reporters still have to wrap their heads around. Many reporters are still unclear what terms like XBRL, or taxonomy mean. This course explains very clearly what digital reporting is and what it means for the reporting profession, what it looks like today and what we can expect in the future.

I want to emphasize that we have made all ESRS courses as practical as possible by including case studies and taking examples from real reporting practice. We followed the same approach as we do with all our training courses: focusing on the practice of sustainability reporting.

SP: When guidance evolves or updates are issued, how does GRI ensure continuity for learners already in certified ESRS pathways?

(note: we are already informing learners that they will be able to join a free FBRH led half day workshop which will be focused on any updates)

PB: Until December last year, the Omnibus proposal was still very much under discussion and it was still unclear what elements were going to be adopted. Of course, the proposal itself was important enough for course participants to be aware of, so we included a section on the Omnibus proposal in all our ESRS certification courses. We updated that section every time we learned that specific elements of the proposal had been agreed upon by the EU. Behind the scenes, the team that develops these courses is continuously tracking the Omnibus discussions to make sure that what ends up in the courses aligns with the reality of the CSRD and the ESRS as it develops.

By now, January 2026, the discussion of the Omnibus proposal has been completed and it is clear which of the proposed changes to CSRD are adopted. These changes will be reflected in the next update on the training courses, and all our students who bought a seat on the ESRS courses will be given access to the updated versions. But, because most of the proposed changes were about CSRD scope and the reporting timelines, and not about the reporting concepts or process, I am confident that the course updates that we will need to make will be quite limited.

BTW, I know that you run short, free workshops on updates to the ESRS for your own course participants. That is also is great way of keeping learners informed of what is going on.

SP: For professionals wondering whether now is the right time to start ESRS learning, what reassurance would you give them?

PB: That is a very good question. One outcome of the Omnibus proposal is that the reporting obligations for wave 2 and wave 3 companies have been delayed by two years. It would be a mistake to conclude that if your company is part of wave 2 or wave 3, you can sit back and relax for another two years. What we hear consistently from companies that have started to prepare for reporting under the CSRD, is that they underestimated the effort to have their staff trained and the controls in place that are needed for a proper reporting process. Consistently, their advice is to start early with preparations and go through the full reporting process well before the deadline. Use the two years you have been given to prepare, so that when you have to submit your first report, you can be confident that the process will run smoothly.

So, concretely, how should you prepare if you want to start today?

You know that the reporting standards themselves are still under revision, and are expected to be finalized somewhere mid 2026. So I would recommend that professionals start familiarising themselves with the reporting process and not go too deep into the standards yet. The next release of the ESRS will have far fewer datapoints than the initial release, so don’t dive into data-collection details today that may turn out to be irrelevant in the future.

So, focus on the reporting process first. A great way to start is by taking the ESRS certification courses available on the GRI Academy and through some of our certified training partners, like FBRH. That prepares you for the next step, which is to contact one or two peer organizations that have already started their reporting process or have completed the necessary preparations. They can give very practical advice on what your next steps should be. This is a great way to learn from the pitfalls encountered by others. That way, when the revised standards are finalized, you’re not starting from zero, instead, you’re ready to plug them into an established process.

Closing statement by Simon Pitsillides:

The key message here is simple: ESRS isn’t about waiting for certainty — it’s about building capability.
When learning is process-based it stays relevant, even as regulation evolves.

For professionals who want to move forward with confidence rather than hesitation, that’s the difference that matters.

And if you’d like to explore the GRI-certified ESRS pathway offered by FBRH in more detail, you can find more information at www.fbrh.co.uk/esrs.

Paul, thank you — this has been a genuinely valuable conversation.

The post An interview with Paul Broekhof on how ESRS learning stays robust despite regulatory change appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

Patrick de Cambourg, Chair of the EFRAG Sustainability Reporting Board (SRB), stated:

“This simplification reflects a crucial balance: supporting Europe’s competitiveness and reducing unnecessary burden, while preserving the EU’s leadership in sustainable finance and its commitment to the Green Deal. The Simplified ESRS provide a clearer, more proportionate framework that strengthens trust, transparency and our collective ability to address long-term sustainability challenges.”

References:

https://www.esgtoday.com/efrag-releases-simplified-european-sustainability-reporting-standards/

The post EFRAG Unveils Simplified European Sustainability Reporting Standards appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

Test your knowledge with this 12-question free sample!

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

Sustainability has been a hot topic over the past decade, not least due to the urgent need to strengthen climate resilience. When it comes to sustainability reporting, disclosures, organisations, and metrics, there are a lot of acronyms, from ESG to GRI to COP. They may provide frameworks and guidelines, help set goals, and assess how businesses may be affected by things like climate change or impact the environment and society.

For companies that are just beginning to engage in sustainability reporting, it can be discouraging. Hence, here’s a list of commonly used acronyms and terminologies, what they stand for and mean.

1. ESG: Environmental, Social, Governance
These are criteria or categories for people to evaluate an organisation’s performance, impacts and how far advanced they are with sustainable development. Environmental factors may include greenhouse gas emissions, waste management and energy efficiency, social factors may refer to underpaid labour, workplace health and safety and the protection of human rights, while governance factors might relate to stakeholder engagement, transparency and anti-corruption.

2. SDGs: Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The 17 SDGs are integrated, recognising that action in one area will affect outcomes in others. Some of the 17 goals include gender equality, quality education, climate action, zero hunger, affordable and clean energy.

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

3. GRI: Global Reporting Initiative
GRI is an independent, international non-profit organisation that helps businesses and organisations worldwide account for their impacts by providing them with the tools to communicate those impacts. The GRI Standards are the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting standards, adopted by 73% of the largest 250 global companies and by 68% of a wider sample of 5,800 businesses around the globe.

4. ISSB: International Sustainability Standards Board
On 3 November 2021, the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) Foundation Trustees announced the creation of a new standard-setting board, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). The ISSB’s aim is to deliver a comprehensive global baseline of sustainability-related disclosure standards that provide international investors and other capital market participants with quality, reliable information about companies’ sustainability-related risks and opportunities (climate and other ESG matters), to help them make informed decisions.

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.

5. COP: Conference of the Parties
For almost three decades, the UN has been bringing together almost every country on the planet for global climate summits, so as to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally in an equitable way and fight climate change. This annual meeting is also called the COP. The latest COP summit, referred to as COP27 as it was the 27th UN climate change conference, took place in November 2022, in Egypt.

6. ESRS: European Sustainability Reporting Standards
The European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) are widely regarded as a key step towards holding all large EU companies accountable for their sustainability impacts. Under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the ESRS will apply to almost 8,000 EU & non EU businesses from 2024.

7. Circular Economy
A circular economy is an alternative to a traditional linear economy that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible, thus reducing pressure on the environment. This helps to drive greater resource productivity, creating a more competitive economy and addressing resource scarcity.

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.

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.

This article is based on published information by Insider, IFRS and Aventis Learning Group. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following links:

https://www.businessinsider.com/companies-need-to-understand-confusing-acronyms-of-esg-and-sustainability-2022-7

https://www.ifrs.org/groups/international-sustainability-standards-board/

https://aventislearning.com/top-8-most-used-sustainability-acronyms/

The post ESG, SDG, GRI, and more: What do the sustainability acronyms all mean? appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

This article is written for professionals who want to get sustainability reporting right — without wasting time, money, or credibility.

As confirmed by EFRAG, the ESRS are, as much as possible, fully aligned with the GRI Standards. This sends a clear signal to established GRI reporters that they are well prepared for the ESRS, and can leverage their existing reporting processes.

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

Key questions on the roll-out of the new European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) are being addressed, offering reassurance to thousands of organisations already using the GRI Standards that they are best prepared for the new requirements.

The GRI and ESRS Q&A publication is focused on the joint work already undertaken with EFRAG (formerly known as the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group) to achieve global comparability through alignment with the GRI Standards, to reduce reporting burden.

Under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the ESRS will apply to almost 8,000 EU & non EU businesses from 2024. After the submission by EFRAG to the European Commission of the first set of draft standards last month, GRI has answered early questions on what it means for GRI reporters.

The Q&A addresses key issues, such as:

• The high relevance of GRI reporting content and processes for the impact reporting requirements of the ESRS;
• The support and resources that reporting companies can expect from GRI;
• How the ESRS fits with GRI’s collaboration with the IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) Foundation;
• Why companies outside the EU need to also take notice.

“The sustainability reporting landscape is evolving fast, therefore it’s understandable that businesses have questions on what the changes may mean for them. Confirmation that the draft ESRS aligns as closely as possible with the GRI Standards offers GRI reporters reassurance that they can use their current reporting practices to prepare for the new requirements. Taken together with our ongoing collaboration with the IFRS Foundation and the ISSB on their sustainability-related disclosures, this further reinforces the relevance of GRI, demonstrating our leadership position as provider of the global benchmark for reporting on impacts.”

Eelco van der Enden, GRI CEO

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.

Also read:

GRI Standards: A principled approach to sustainability action

Interoperability between ESRS and GRI Standards good news for GRI reporting companies

“Since the early stages, we have actively engaged with EFRAG in the development of the ESRS. We’ll continue to do so, as the remaining standards are developed. Our focus is on how to ensure optimal interoperability between the GRI Standards and ESRS – minimizing reporting burden and challenge for companies. At each step of the way, we commit to ensuring organizations understand the changes and what to expect, as demonstrated by this new Q&A resource. Further information is still to come, including detailed mapping of the disclosures from both sets of standards and technical guidance, which will help GRI reporting companies to be ready for CSRD requirements.”

Judy Kuszewski, Chair of GRI’s Global Sustainability Standards Board

The CSRD introduces legislation that significantly expands mandatory sustainability disclosure requirements, replacing the current Non-Financial Reporting Directive.

Under the EFRAG-GRI cooperation agreement, signed in July 2021, the two organizations joined each other’s technical expert groups and committed to share information.

The 2022 KPMG Survey of Sustainability Reporting (published in October) found that the GRI Standards are, today, the world’s most widely used, adopted by 73% of the largest 250 global companies and by 68% of a wider sample of 5,800 businesses around the globe.

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.

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.

This article is based on published information by GRI. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:

https://www.globalreporting.org/news/news-center/gri-reporting-best-prepares-companies-for-new-eu-standards/

The post GRI and ESRS Q&A document now available appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

This article is written for professionals who want to get sustainability reporting right — without wasting time, money, or credibility.

GRI welcomed the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) as a key step towards implementing the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and holding EU market companies accountable for their impacts. The first set of draft ESRS was submitted on 22 November to the European Commission by the Sustainability Reporting Board (SRB) of EFRAG (formerly known as the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group).

GRI actively participated in the development of the ESRS, from the initial phase lead by the Project Task Force to the collaboration with EFRAG, the SRB and Technical Expert Group. The work focused on achieving optimal interoperability between the global GRI Standards, concentrated on impact materiality, and the European ESRS (focused on double materiality). The GRI Standards are, already, the most widely used impact reporting standards by large companies both in the EU and globally.

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

Judy Kuszewski, Chair of GRI’s Global Sustainability Standards Board, said:

“Through a well-established and rigorous due process, the GRI Standards codify the consensus view of global stakeholders on what companies need to disclose about their impacts on the world – allowing stakeholders to make decisions based on facts not perceptions. It has been a pleasure working with EFRAG on the development of the ESRS and sharing our 25 years of experience and knowledge.
The collaboration worked on the basic principle that wherever possible and across all the standards, definitions, concepts, and disclosures would leverage the GRI Standards. This resulted, as EFRAG stated, in a situation where the ESRS are fully aligned or, when full alignment was not possible due to the content of the CSRD mandate, closely aligned with GRI.

Also read:

GRI and ESRS Q&A document now available

GRI Standards: A principled approach to sustainability action

Of course, there will be differences between our global impact-focused standards and the EU double materiality focused standards as prescribed by the CSRD. We are committed to work with EFRAG to provide technical guidance on how to use current GRI based reporting practices and processes to also meet the ESRS needs in addition to jointly working on future standards. This guidance will be published at the time the EU Commission releases the final standards.”

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.

Eelco van der Enden, GRI CEO, said:

“From the outset the European Commission has been very vocal about its objective to not reinvent the wheel and build on existing standards. This approach ensures global comparability and limits additional reporting burden for companies. This first set of standards proves that through collaboration global interoperability to the highest extent possible is attainable. Moreover, it sends a clear signal to those companies which have been using the GRI Standards for many years that they are well prepared and can leverage their existing reporting processes.
We look forward to continuing our work in the next months with EFRAG, and the European Commission’s DG FISMA, on the next set of standards to drive interoperability as much as possible. After all, GRI is committed to the creation of a global comprehensive reporting system. We appreciate that such a system will at times need to be combined with jurisdictional reporting requirements reflecting the ambitions, existing legal frameworks, and specific context. The ESRS are a good example of how this can be done very effectively.”

The CSRD, mandating the use of the ESRS for some 50,000 companies, was approved on 10 November 2022 by the European Parliament.

Under the EFRAG-GRI cooperation agreement, signed in July 2021, the two organizations joined each other’s technical expert groups, committing to share information, for standard setting activities and timelines to be aligned as much as possible.

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive introduces legislation to significantly expand mandatory sustainability disclosure requirements for EU companies, replacing the current Non-Financial Reporting Directive.

The 2022 KPMG Survey of Sustainability Reporting (published in October) found that the GRI Standards are the world’s most widely used, adopted by 73% of the largest 250 global companies and by 68% of a wider sample of 5,800 businesses globally.

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.

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.

This article is based on published information by GRI. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:

https://www.globalreporting.org/news/news-center/interoperability-between-esrs-and-gri-standards-good-news-for-reporters/

The post Interoperability between ESRS and GRI Standards good news for GRI reporting companies appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

Is the ESG disclosure landscape congested? Are sustainability reporting plans by the EU and IFRS competing or do they serve different purposes? What’s GRI’s vision for a more effective and transparent  global reporting system? Most importantly, why should companies be accountable for the full range of their impacts on people and planet?

These are just some of the issues explored in A business case for environment & society, the first of a new series that will offer ‘The GRI perspective’. More issues covering topical themes will publish regularly during 2022.

Eelco van der Enden started as GRI CEO on 1 January. He shares why GRI is leading the global debate on corporate accountability for sustainability impacts.

The sustainability reporting landscape has been called ‘the alphabet soup’. Is that correct? What is GRI’s perspective?

“The broader landscape can be confusing, but companies should not let the myriad of ESG guidelines, raters, certifiers and others distract them from fulfilling their transparency obligations. The reality is there are only two sustainability reporting standards setters – GRI, for impacts on the economy, environment and people that meet the needs of all stakeholders, and SASB, for enterprise value disclosure for an investor audience.

GRI is, I believe, more relevant than ever before. Our standards bring multi-stakeholder credibility, challenging organizations to report in a way that reflects the full range of their impacts. A narrow financial focus cannot, for example, fully illuminate how a company safeguards human rights or mitigates climate change.”

The IFRS launched an International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) while the European Union is developing its own European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). Will this change the reporting landscape and how will they intersect?

“These two developments are understandably getting a lot of attention right now. It’s important though to understand their differences. Firstly, the EU standards will cover the full spectrum of sustainability aspects, while IFRS are focussed solely on the financial impact of sustainability issues on the company. Secondly, the ESRS will be mandatory for some 50,000 companies whereas the ISSB standards will not come with enforceable capabilities.

At GRI, we see these developments as complementary rather than competing. We are already involved in the EU process, as co-constructor of the ESRS, and look forward to engaging with the newly formed ISSB. What’s important is that we move towards a strengthened two-pillar structure for corporate reporting – both financial and sustainability – with each on an equal footing.”

What does GRI bring to the table that others do not? And why do businesses even need to report beyond their financial impacts and obligations?

“Since we were established 25 years ago, multi-stakeholder ethos has been in our DNA. GRI enables businesses, investors, policymakers, employees and civil society to engage in dialogue and make decisions that support inclusive sustainable development. We bring truly global, independent and freely accessible sustainability standards that any company – large or small – can use to understand and communicate their impacts.

So far, over 10,000 companies choose to use the GRI Standards voluntarily because they understand that broad sustainability reporting, beyond enterprise value alone, is needed to achieve socio-economic and environmental cohesion. As more organizations accept that being fully open and transparent is also good for business, I am confident that GRI’s global role will continue to grow.”

This article is based on published information by GRI. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the publication’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:

https://www.globalreporting.org/about-gri/news-center/the-gri-perspective-why-informing-all-stakeholders-is-good-for-business/

The post GRI’s new CEO sets out GRI’s central role in the global reporting landscape appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.