GLOBAL REPORTING INITIATIVE (GRI) GUIDELINES

The Global Reporting Initiative was initially convened by the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES), a non-profit coalition of over 50 investor, environmental, religious, labour and social justice groups. the GRI was established in 1997 with a mission to elevate sustainability reporting to equivalency with financial reporting. It has recently been established as an organisation in its own right.

The GRI has developed a set of core metrics intended to be applicable to all business enterprises, sets of sector-specific metrics for specific types of enterprises and a uniform format for reporting information integral to a company's sustainability performance.

In broad terms, the GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines recommend specific information related to environmental, social and economic performance. It is structured around a CEO statement, key environmental, social and economic indicators, a profile of the reporting entity, descriptions of relevant policies and management systems, stakeholder relationships, management performance, operational performance, product performance and a sustainability overview.

More info : Global Reporting - www.globalreporting.org

The Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies, CERES: www.ceres.org
UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme: www.unep.org

REPORTING PRINCIPLES

Following an introduction, the Guidelines present a series of reporting principles. These principles help ensure that GRI-based reports:

• Provide a balanced and reasonable representation of an organisation's sustainability performance
• Facilitate comparability
• Address issues of concern to stakeholders

The GRI reporting principles are the underpinnings of report content. They are the foundation of credible reporting, equal in importance to the content itself. the reporting principles are:

• Transparency: Full disclosure of the processes, procedures and assumptions in report preparation are essential to its credibility.
• Inclusiveness: the reporting organisation should engage its stakeholders in preparing and enhancing the quality of reports.
• Auditability: Reported information should be recorded, compiled, analysed and disclosed in a way that enables internal auditors or external assurance providers to attest to its reliability.
• Completeness: All material information should appear in the report.
• Relevance: Reporting organisations should use the degree of importance that report users assign to particular information in determining report content.
• Sustainability Context: Reporting organisations should seek to place their performance in the broader context of ecological, social or other issues where such context adds significant meaning to the reported information.
• Accuracy: Reports should achieve a degree of exactness and low margin of error to enable users to make decisions with a high degree of confidence.
• Neutrality: Reports should avoid bias in selection and presentation of information and provide a balanced account of performance.
• Comparability: Reports should be framed so as to facilitate comparison to earlier reports as well as to reports of comparable organisations.
• Clarity: Information should be presented in a manner that is understandable by a maximum number of users while still maintaining a suitable level of detail
• Timeliness: Reports should provide information on a regular schedule that meets user needs and comports with the nature of the information itself.

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Performance indicators, both qualitative and quantitative, are the core of a sustainability report. the performance indicators are grouped under three sections covering the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability. In each area, GRI identifies core indicators (required for reporting in accordance with the Guidelines) and additional indicators (used at the discretion of the reporter to enrich a report).

Economic indicators concern an organisation's impacts, both direct and indirect, on the economic resources of its stakeholders and on economic systems at the local, national, and global levels. Included within economic indicators are the reporting organisation's wages, pensions and other benefits paid to employees; monies received from customers and paid to suppliers; and taxes paid and subsidies received. In a few instances, economic performance information overlaps with that in conventional financial statements. In general, however, the two are complementary

Environmental indicators concern an organisation's impacts on living and non-living natural systems, including eco-systems, land, air and water. Included within environmental indicators are the environmental impacts of products and services; energy, material and water use; greenhouse gas and other emissions; effluents and waste generation; impacts on biodiversity; use of hazardous materials; recycling, pollution, waste reduction and other environmental programmes; environmental expen-ditures; and fines and penalties for non-compliance.

Social indicators concern an organisation's impacts on the social systems within which it operates. GRI social indicators are grouped into three clusters: labour practices (e.g., diversity, employee health and safety), human rights (e.g., child labour, compliance issues), and broader social issues affecting consumers, communities, and other stakeholders (e.g., bribery and corruption, community relations). Because many social issues are not easily quantifiable, GRI requests qualitative information where appropriate.

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