Promoting effective water management

Responding to the global water crisis and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, GRI engaged with leading water stewardship experts to develop a standard that will help companies better understand and manage their water impacts.  Tweet This!

“The lack of access to freshwater affects more than 40% of the global population. In a world where some companies’ GDPs exceed that of whole countries, the business world is expected to rise to the challenge and do its part in addressing these. The aim of the revised water standard is to help companies report what matters, and where it matters, by using credible, context-based metrics,” said Bastian Buck, Chief of Standards at GRI.

The updated standard, GRI 303: Water and Effluents 2018, requires companies to report on water impacts in their value chain, emphasising water stewardship and urging companies to actively manage impacts in the watersheds in which they operate. The standard is, among others, based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and, more specifically, Goal 6: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”.

The revised standard puts emphasis on collecting information on water use (e.g. withdrawal, consumption and discharge) and related impacts, including how these are dealt with across the value chain. In addition, companies should report how they manage water as a shared resource and, also, how they manage their impacts locally.

A modular approach

After releasing the GRI Standards in 2016, the standard on water and effluents is the first to be updated by GRI. The modular structure of the GRI Standards allows the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) to frequently update individual standards, on the basis of the urgency and demand from the field.

The project working group for GRI 303: Water and Effluents 2018 included, among others, representatives from leading water stewardship organisations (for example, the World Resources Institute, the WWF and the Pacific Institute) and members of the mining, beverage and textile industries.

“As the most used sustainability reporting framework, we see it as our responsibility to create credible and robust standards so that companies can measure and report their impacts on the people and society in a meaningful way. This information feeds into internal processes and informs decision-making – accelerating action towards sustainable development,” concluded Mr. Buck.

GRI will present the new standard and answer questions from attendees in two live webinars on 19 September.

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.

FBRH GRI Standards Certified and ISEP approved Sustainability Course | Venue: London LSE

By registering for the next 2-day FBRH GRI-Standards Certified and ISEP approved Course you will be taking the first step in gaining the many benefits of sustainability reporting.

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.globalreporting.org/information/news-and-press-center/Pages/World-Water-Week-Companies-must-look-beyond-own-operations-to-enhance-water-stewardship.aspx

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“The improvements that organizations will be able to make by using GRI’s Disclosure Review Service will increase the transparency needed to build a better world,” said Shivani Rajpal, Head of Services at GRI.

Improving report quality with the Disclosure Review Service  Tweet This!

The Disclosure Review Service will enable organizations to get valuable feedback on specific disclosures, which GRI will review to find out whether an organization has satisfied the information requirements of the GRI Standards.

It covers 10 strategically chosen disclosures, relating to how organizations approach materiality assessment and stakeholder engagement. Later in 2018, more disclosures will be added.

How does the Disclosure Review Service work?

GRI will review your organization’s draft report, to evaluate the organization’s reporting on the chosen disclosures from GRI 102: General Disclosures. GRI will complete the review in four to eight weeks. Upon successful completion of the service, organizations will receive from GRI an organizational mark with an additional statement, which they can use in their report.

Acting as a stakeholder, GRI will give detailed feedback, to help organizations better respond to the GRI Standards’ information requests. In addition, GRI will provide a final feedback report focused on the application of the Materiality and Stakeholder Inclusiveness Principles, to help organizations better prepare for future reports.

How much will the Disclosure Review Service cost?

The Disclosure Review Service will cost €4,000 for SMEs and not-for-profit organizations, and €5,000 for all other organizations. This is a first-year introductory price. For more information regarding the service and how to join, organizations may visit GRI’s Disclosure Review Service web page.

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.globalreporting.org/information/news-and-press-center/Pages/Improve-the-quality-of-your-report-with-GRI%E2%80%99s-new-Disclosure-Review-Service.aspx 

The post Improve the Quality of your GRI Standards Report appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.

This case study is based on the 2016 Sustainability Report by the University of Melbourne published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate that CSR/ sustainability reporting done responsibly is achieved by identifying an organization’s or company’s most important impacts on the environment and stakeholders and by measuring, managing and changing. 

With more than 48,000 students and over 8,000 employees, the University of Melbourne strives to engage the university community in social and environmental issues.  The University is dedicated to influencing public thought and practices to achieve a sustainable future. In order to encourage and enable students to engage with sustainability issues the University of Melbourne took action to:

• Enable student engagement on campus
• Arm graduate students with the knowledge and skills so they can contribute to sustainability through their future professions

The post Case study: How the University of Melbourne engages students in sustainability initiatives appeared first on SustainCase - Sustainability Magazine.