We prepare your GRI sustainability report: materiality analysis, selection of the applicable GRI Standards, data collection, drafting and verification. You comply with GRI and prepare ahead for the move to CSRD/ESRS.
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Six workstreams to build a rigorous, verifiable GRI sustainability report that is aligned with the requirements of the CSRD.
Identification and prioritization of material topics under the GRI materiality process: stakeholder mapping, impact assessment and selection of the GRI Standards that apply to your company.
Preparation of the sustainability report in line with the universal GRI Standards (GRI 1, 2 and 3) and the applicable topic standards: environmental, social and governance. GRI index included.
Design of the system for collecting quantitative and qualitative data in line with the disclosure requirements of each GRI Standard: emissions, energy, water, employment, human rights and governance.
Mapping of the equivalences between the GRI Standards and the ESRS to ease the move to CSRD reporting. It maximizes data reuse and reduces the effort of adapting to the new rules.
Review of the GRI report to ensure the quality, traceability and consistency of the data before verification by an independent third party. Internal audit ahead of the external verification.
Practical sessions on the GRI Standards by role: management, sustainability, HR, operations and communications. With training evidence for audits and verification.
Listed companies subject to the CSRD, SMEs that report voluntarily, the financial sector or companies in the value chain: each profile has different GRI needs.
“Companies that already report under GRI have a clear advantage when the CSRD applies: GRI data and processes can be reused to build the ESRS report. We design the bridge between the two frameworks.”
“SMEs that report under GRI voluntarily gain credibility with customers, lenders and investors. The GRI for SMEs standard makes proportionate, workable reporting possible.”
“Banks, asset managers and insurers combine GRI reporting with their SFDR disclosure obligations. The GRI index supports consistency and avoids duplication in sustainability information.”
“If you supply a company subject to the CSDDD or the CSRD, you will be asked for sustainability data. Having a GRI report, or a data system aligned with GRI, makes it easier to answer customer questionnaires.”
Not having a GRI sustainability report, or having a poorly prepared one, creates growing regulatory, reputational and commercial risks.
Exclusion from public tenders and contracts: more and more public authorities and large companies require proof of GRI sustainability reporting as a condition for access to contracts and tenders.
Loss of access to sustainable finance: banks and funds apply ESG criteria when granting credit and green bonds. Without verifiable sustainability data, your company is left out of these financing lines.
Competitive disadvantage in the value chain: large companies subject to the CSDDD require GRI data from their suppliers. Not having it can mean being cut out of the supply chain of strategic customers.
Companies that already report under GRI will be better prepared to comply with the CSRD. Those that have not started with GRI will be at a disadvantage when the ESRS obligation arrives.
A poorly prepared GRI report, or one with unverifiable data, can be treated as greenwashing under the new Green Claims Directive, with penalties and reputational damage.
The 2021 GRI Standards are the most widely used sustainability reporting framework in the world: more than 10,000 companies in over 100 countries publish GRI reports every year.
We assess your situation, select the applicable GRI Standards and prepare your sustainability report: materiality, data, drafting, GRI index and preparation for verification.
The GRI Standards (Global Reporting Initiative) are the most widely used international framework for preparing sustainability reports. They set out how organizations must report their economic, environmental and social impacts.
The GRI Standards are structured in three universal standards (GRI 1, 2 and 3) and a series of topic standards for the environment (GRI 300), social matters (GRI 400) and the economy (GRI 200).
The GRI sustainability report is the report that sets out an organization’s most significant environmental, social and governance impacts, prepared in line with the GRI Standards.
It includes the materiality analysis, a description of the organization, policies and commitments, quantitative and qualitative indicators for each material topic, and the GRI index with the disclosure requirements covered.
GRI is a voluntary international framework (although increasingly mandatory indirectly) that focuses on the company’s impact on its surroundings (impact materiality). The ESRS are the mandatory European standards under the CSRD Directive, which apply the principle of double materiality (impact and financial).
GRI 1, GRI 2 and GRI 3 are the universal standards that are mandatory for any organization claiming conformity with the GRI Standards. They form the basis of reporting: foundations, general disclosures about the organization and the materiality process.
In addition, for each material topic identified in the GRI 3 analysis, the organization must apply the corresponding topic standard (for example, GRI 305 for emissions, GRI 401 for employment, GRI 405 for diversity and equal opportunity).
The materiality process under GRI 3 requires you to:
Unlike CSRD double materiality, the GRI approach is mainly one of impact materiality (inside-out), although it is complemented by the financial perspective.
Yes. GRI has developed GRI for SMEs (a simplified standard for small and medium-sized enterprises), which allows them to prepare a sustainability report proportionate to their size and resources.
Reporting under GRI voluntarily is a competitive advantage for SMEs: it eases access to sustainable finance, improves their position in tenders and lets them answer the ESG questionnaires of large customers subject to the CSDDD or the CSRD.
Under the GRI Standards themselves, external verification is not mandatory, but it is recommended and increasingly requested by investors and customers. GRI distinguishes between limited assurance and reasonable assurance.
By contrast, under the CSRD, external verification of the ESRS sustainability report is mandatory. If your company expects the CSRD obligation to apply, preparing the GRI report to verification standards from the start significantly reduces the effort of adapting later.
GRI keeps an official correspondence with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each GRI topic standard is linked to one or more SDGs, which makes it easier to report the company’s contribution to the 2030 Agenda.
A quality GRI sustainability report is not a once-a-year document: it is the result of a data management system, a rigorous materiality process and sustainability governance that works all year round.
GHG emissions (GRI 305), energy (GRI 302), water (GRI 303), biodiversity (GRI 304), waste (GRI 306) and environmental compliance (GRI 307). Quantitative data with units and methodology.
Employment (GRI 401), health and safety (GRI 403), training (GRI 404), diversity and equal opportunity (GRI 405), human rights, local communities and customer well-being.
Economic performance (GRI 201), market presence (GRI 202), indirect economic impacts (GRI 203), anti-corruption (GRI 205) and anti-competitive behavior (GRI 206).
If you need help with your GRI report, see our ESG compliance services or request a free consultation.
An effective GRI sustainability report requires traceable data, a documented materiality process and governance that works all year round. These are the operating blocks we design and oversee.
1) GRI materialityIdentify and prioritize the topics with the greatest actual or potential impact on the economy, the environment and people. This defines which GRI Standards apply to your company.
2) GRI dataSet up reliable collection systems for each GRI indicator: emissions, energy, water, employment, diversity, human rights and economic performance. Data quality and traceability.
3) Value chainExtend GRI reporting to the value chain: supplier assessment against ESG criteria, sustainability questionnaires and impact management for strategic suppliers.
4) GRI report and indexPreparation of the impact management report for each material topic, building the GRI index and getting the final document ready for publication. Alignment with the SDGs and the CSRD.
By type of companyFull GRI report + transition to CSRD/ESRS. External verification recommended or mandatory.
GRI for SMEs or a simplified report. Voluntary, or required by CSDDD/CSRD customers.
GRI + SFDR + EU Taxonomy. Reporting integrated with TCFD and PAI for asset managers and banks.
The basis of the GRI system: how to use the Standards, reporting principles, the materiality process and the statement of use.
Statement of use of the GRI Standards, reference to the level of conformity and the reporting period.
Information about the organization: activities, employees, value chain, governance, strategy, policies and commitments.
Description of the organization, governance structure, sustainability policies and the stakeholder consultation process.
Materiality process: identify impacts, prioritize them and select the material topics. Management of each material topic.
Documentation of the materiality process, list of material topics, justification and management policies for each topic.
Environmental indicators: materials, energy, water, biodiversity, emissions, waste, environmental compliance.
Quantitative data on emissions (Scope 1/2/3), energy and water consumption and waste generation, with methodology.
Social indicators: employment, labor relations, health and safety, training, diversity, human rights, communities.
Workforce data, accidents, training hours, gender pay gap, human rights assessments.
If you recognize any of these situations, it is worth reviewing how you prepare your GRI sustainability report.
If you are preparing a GRI sustainability report, these terms come up in the Standards, in verification processes and in day-to-day reporting.
An independent international organization that has developed the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting standards. The GRI Standards are the reference framework for preparing sustainability reports.
A universal standard that sets out the purpose and system of the GRI Standards, the reporting principles (materiality, completeness, accuracy, comparability, verifiability and timeliness) and how to state use of the Standards.
A standard that requires information about the organization: activities, employees, value chain, governance structure, strategy, policies, practices and sustainability commitments.
A standard that sets out the process for identifying material topics: identifying current and potential impacts (positive and negative), prioritizing them and reporting how the organization manages each material topic.
A table showing, for each applicable GRI disclosure requirement, where the information can be found in the sustainability report. It is the element that allows conformity with the GRI Standards to be verified.
The GRI Standard for reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: Scope 1 (direct), Scope 2 (indirect, from energy) and Scope 3 (the rest of the value chain). Includes emissions intensity and reductions.
Under GRI, a topic is material if it represents a significant impact of the organization on the economy, the environment or people. The perspective is mainly one of impact (inside-out), unlike CSRD double materiality.
A simplified GRI reporting framework designed for small and medium-sized enterprises. It allows a sustainability report proportionate to the organization’s size and resources, with a reduced number of disclosures.
EFRAG and GRI have published an interoperability guide that maps the equivalences between the GRI disclosure requirements and the ESRS. It lets companies that already report under GRI reuse data to comply with the CSRD.
GRI REPORTING CONSOLE
The level of demand of GRI reporting varies with the company’s size, whether it is listed and its sector. This panel summarizes the main GRI Standards and how far they apply.
Find out which GRI Standards are most relevant to your business profile.
Tell us about your situation and we will explain how to prepare your GRI sustainability report in a practical way, aligned with the CSRD.
The GRI Standards (Global Reporting Initiative) are the international reference framework for preparing sustainability reports. More than 10,000 organizations in over 100 countries publish their sustainability reports every year following the GRI Standards, which makes them the common language of ESG reporting worldwide.
In 2021, GRI published a significant update to its universal standards: GRI 1 (Foundation), GRI 2 (General Disclosures) and GRI 3 (Material Topics). The update strengthened the impact-based materiality process, introduced new governance requirements and aligned the framework with the international due diligence standards of the UN and the OECD. From 2023, organizations that claim conformity with GRI must use the GRI 2021 Standards.
The CSRD Directive and the ESRS (European Sustainability Reporting Standards) share many principles and requirements with the GRI Standards. EFRAG and GRI have published an official interoperability guide that maps the equivalences between the GRI disclosure requirements and the ESRS. Companies that already report under GRI have a significant advantage in the move to CSRD reporting: they can reuse existing data, processes and structures.
In 2023, GRI launched GRI for SMEs, a sustainability reporting standard designed specifically for small and medium-sized enterprises. This simplified standard lets SMEs prepare a sustainability report proportionate to their resources, covering the most relevant environmental, social and governance topics. It is especially useful for SMEs that are part of the value chain of large companies subject to the CSDDD or the CSRD.
Although external verification of the GRI report is not mandatory under the GRI Standards themselves, it is increasingly requested by investors, lenders and customers. GRI distinguishes between limited assurance (a less exhaustive review) and reasonable assurance (a higher level of verification). By contrast, under the CSRD, verification of the ESRS report is legally mandatory. Preparing the GRI report to verification standards from the start makes it easier to adapt to the CSRD framework later.