GRI welcomes role as ‘co-constructor’ of new EU sustainability reporting standards
A Statement of Cooperation between GRI and the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) Project task Force has been announced, with both organisations agreeing to share technical expertise to co-construct new EU sustainability reporting standards. This collaboration will help the European Commission increase corporate transparency, in support of the European Green Deal.
Requirements for companies to report according to new European sustainability reporting standards are set out in the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) proposal. The technical work to develop those standards, is led by EFRAG’s Project Task Force on European Sustainability Reporting Standards.
In the announcement, Sean Berrigan, Director General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union, European Commission, states: “European sustainability reporting standards should build on and contribute to the progress of existing standards and frameworks that are widely used by companies. I welcome this Statement of Cooperation between EFRAG and GRI as an important step towards promoting convergence between European and global sustainability reporting standards.”
Patrick de Cambourg, Chair of the EFRAG Project Task Force, stresses that: “in the spirit of co-construction and convergence we promote, we want to benefit from long-standing precursors and avoid reinventing the wheel while contributing at the same time to further substantial progress globally”.
Welcoming the agreement, GRI Chairman Eric Hespenheide said:
“The CSRD has the potential to raise the bar for corporate accountability and transparency, in Europe and beyond. There are strong parallels between the double materiality-based proposals in the CSRD and the GRI Standards.
We firmly believe that requirements that position sustainability reporting on an equal footing with financial disclosure – as set out in the EU proposals – will ensure transparency for all stakeholders on the impacts of companies while acting as an enabler for responsible business conduct and societal dialogue on pivotal issues.
This agreement is the first step towards establishing a long-term strategic collaboration on the co-construction of standards which meet the requirements of the CSRD to become legally binding in the EU but also can be incorporated in the voluntary global standards from GRI. Standard development will therefore be guided by both EFRAG’s due process and the GRI due process.”
Judy Kuszewski, Chair of the GRI’s Global Sustainability Standards Board, added:
“The EU and GRI are both committed to standards that are multi-stakeholder inclusive and address the impacts organizations have on the environment, society and the economy, based on international and authoritative instruments. Therefore, we look forward to contributing our knowledge and expertise to EFRAG and engage with the Project Task Force in the co-construction of new EU sustainability standards.”
It is worth noting that research by the Alliance for Corporate Transparency (2020), showed that 54% of EU companies use the GRI Standards (the most commonly cited framework) to meet their non-financial reporting requirements. Tweet This!
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.
Need to KICK START Sustainability / ESG action?
In-house GRI Standards training Strengthen internal ability to address in a comprehensive way increasing Sustainability / ESG needs
Growing need for capacity building through specialised training
Beyond compliance, demand for sustainability information is continually increasing. (e.g., Investors, clients, business partners, top talent). Sustainability needs to be understood and implemented through a well through a fully functioning decision-making structure. Companies are understanding that they no longer can rely on the work of a small team of internal and external experts to gain maximum benefit.
Internal knowledge and expertise are fully utilised with the structured involvement of key people and decision-makers. This is accomplished through capacity building specialised training. Beyond properly addressing all significant impacts (double materiality), such decisions are all important for business success and are essential in the effort to prepare sustainability strategy and gain competitive advantage.
References:
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.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/06/21/new-rules-on-sustainability-disclosure-provisional-agreement-between-council-and-european-parliament/
https://www.bsr.org/en/our-insights/blog-view/what-business-needs-to-know-about-the-eu-corporate-sustainability-reporting