Sustainability Reporting: GRI Standards

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an international organisation that develops sustainability reporting guidelines to help companies and organisations understand what they need to report on. The tools developed by the Global Reporting Initiative are the GRI Indicators, a set of standardised and globally recognised sustainability indicators that can be used by any company or organisation preparing a sustainability report. These indicators are frequently reviewed and updated to include new topics and allow companies and organisations to communicate their ESG performance in a transparent and comparable way.

The GRI Standards are divided into three main categories: Universal Standards, Sector Standards and Topic Standards. The Universal Standards include GRI 101 (Fundamentals), GRI 102 (General Disclosures) and GRI 103 (Management Approach) and provide a common basis for reporting for all companies. The Sector Standards are industry-specific and provide guidance on material issues relevant to each sector. GRI is currently developing Sector Standards for oil and gas, coal, agriculture and fisheries, and mining. The aim is to develop standards for 40 sectors.

A key aspect of the GRI standards, as well as the ESRS and SASB standards, is the materiality analysis process, which allows companies to focus their reporting on issues that may have a significant impact on their business. The methodological approach includes assessing the operating context, identifying relevant issues, and aligning with applicable regulatory requirements. Materiality is defined through a rigorous process that often includes risk analysis, stakeholder engagement and benchmarking against similar companies to ensure that business priorities are appropriately represented.

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has launched 'GRI Standard 101: Biodiversity 2024', which will take effect on 1 January 2026. This standard will help companies report fully on their impacts on natural ecosystems, responding to growing stakeholder demands for transparency. GRI 101: Biodiversity 2024 replaces the previous GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016 and improves the reporting of direct and indirect impacts along the entire corporate value chain. The standard has been developed taking into account international frameworks such as the UN Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the Science Based Target Network (SBTN) and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD). This update aims to strengthen corporate biodiversity management by facilitating detailed, site-specific reporting and enabling accurate assessment of environmental impacts and mitigation strategies.

GRI 101 - Biodiversity 2024 promotes full transparency along the supply chain; detailed reporting on location-specific impacts, including countries and jurisdictions, with detailed information on the location and size of operations; new information on direct drivers of biodiversity loss, such as climate change, land use, resource extraction, invasive (non-native) species and pollution; requirements for reporting on impacts on society, including communities and indigenous peoples, and how organisations work with local groups to restore degraded habitats. As we have seen, this standard will come into effect on 1 January 2026 and its implementation will be reviewed by GRI over the next two years.

The XNatura Platform by 3Bee Ecosystem supports companies in non-financial reporting and the development of an effective e-Strategy to achieve environmental goals. Starting with a double materiality assessment, we accurately identify material issues: financial materiality is analysed in a company-specific manner. On the other hand, impact materiality is examined by considering the intensity, extent and irreversibility of impacts, both current and future, again by analysing specific cases. Finally, non-material issues are justified by detailing policies, actions and objectives for a transparent and strategic approach. With objective, transparent and continuous data, we help companies to develop sound strategies for environmental protection and regeneration in line with the GRI standards. Want to know more?