11.07.2024

GRI has launched a new service that will better prepare companies for CSRD reporting

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has announced the launch of a new GRI-ESRS linking service, which aims to enable companies reporting under its disclosure standards to align with European sustainability reporting standards ( ESRS) which form the basis of the new EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

The launch of the new service follows confirmation last year by GRI and EFRAG that they had achieved high level of interoperability between ESRS and GRI standards. The organizations announced that they will deepen their collaboration on sustainability reporting and collaborate in areas including the development and training of reporting standards, in addition to the launch of the GRI-ESRS Interoperability Index, a new tool that outlines how disclosure requirements and the data points in the ESRS and the GRI Standards are interconnected, preventing the need for "double reporting" for businesses reporting to both systems.

Under the new service, GRI will review a reporting company's GRI Content Index and provide feedback on specific links between GRI and ESRS, including an explanation of areas where disclosures do or do not match.

GRI will also provide feedback on the ESRS topic areas covered by the reporting organization's material topic disclosures and provide suggestions on how to structure the ESRS sustainability statement, as well as provide a list of all ESRS data points. which have no links to the GRI standards.

The GRIs are one of the most commonly accepted global standards

The GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards are one of the most widely adopted global sustainability reporting standards by companies, developed to enable consistent reporting across companies and industries, providing clearer communication to stakeholders on sustainability issues. sustainability.

GRI published a major update to the standards in 2021 and recently published new proposed standards for reporting on climate change and energy, as well as a new standard for reporting on biodiversity и a standard for reporting the sustainability of the mining sector. The GRI standards were developed by the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB).

The ESRS, developed by EFRAG and formally adopted by the European Commission in 2023, sets out the rules and requirements for companies to report sustainability-related impacts, opportunities and risks under CSRD.

The CSRD Directive, which began to apply to some companies from early 2024, will significantly expand the number of companies required to provide sustainability disclosures to over 50 from around 000 currently, and introduce more detailed reporting requirements on the company's environmental impacts, human rights and social standards and sustainability risk.