GRI

The Global Reporting Initiative is an independent, multi-stakeholder international standard-setter for sustainability reporting, founded in 1997 by Boston-based CERES and the Tellus Institute with early backing from the UN Environment Programme. The current GRI Standards (introduced in 2016 in modular form, with the Universal Standards substantially revised in 2021) are organized into Universal Standards (foundational and management approach), Sector Standards (industry-specific topics), and Topic Standards (specific economic, environmental, and social topics). GRI's defining commitment is to a multi-stakeholder, double-materiality orientation — reporting on impacts on the economy, environment, and people regardless of whether those impacts are financially material to the reporting entity — distinguishing it from the investor-focused, financial-materiality framing of SASB and the ISSB. GRI is the most widely used sustainability reporting framework globally, particularly in Europe and emerging markets, and is referenced as a supported framework in the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) ESRS.