G31GuidelinesinclTechnicalProtocolFinal (GRI)

8/2/2019 G31GuidelinesinclTechnicalProtocolFinal (GRI)

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Sustainability Reporting Guidelines

RG

2000-2011 GRI Version 3.1


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2000-2011 GRI Version 3.1


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Sustainability Reporting Guidelines RG

Version 3.1

Table of Contents

Preace

Sustaiable Developmet ad the

Trasparec Imperative

Introduction

Overview o Sustaiabilit Reportig

The Purpose o a Sustainability Report 3

Orientation to the GRI Reporting Framework 3

Orientation to the GRI Guidelines 4

Applying the Guidelines 5

Part 1

Defig Report Cotet, Qualit,

ad Boudar

Guidance or Dening Report Content 7

Principles or Dening Report Content 8

Principles or Dening Report Quality 13

Guidance or Report Boundary Setting 17

Part 2

Stadard Disclosures

Strategy and Prole 20

1. Strategy and Analysis 20

2. Organizational Prole 21

3. Report Parameters 21

4. Governance, Commitments,

and Engagement 22

5. Management Approach and

Perormance Indicators 24

Economic 25

Environmental 27

Social:

Labor Practices and Decent Work 30

Human Rights 32

Society 36

Product Responsibility 39

General Reporting Notes

Data Gathering 40

Report Form and Frequency 40

Assurance 41

Glossary o Terms 42


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Preface

Sustainable Development and the

Transparency Imperative

The goal o sustainable development is to meet the

needs o the present without compromising the ability

o uture generations to meet their own needs.1 As

key orces in society, organizations o all kinds have an

important role to play in achieving this goal.

Yet in this era o unprecedented economic growth,

achieving this goal can seem more o an aspiration than

a reality. As economies globalize, new opportunities

to generate prosperity and quality o lie are arising

though trade, knowledge-sharing, and access to

technology. However, these opportunities are not always

available or an ever-increasing human population,

and are accompanied by new risks to the stability o

the environment. Statistics demonstrating positive

improvements in the lives o many people around the

world are counter-balanced by alarming inormation

about the state o the environment and the continuing

burden o poverty and hunger on millions o people.

This contrast creates one o the most pressing dilemmas

or the 21st century.

One o the key challenges o sustainable development

is that it demands new and innovative choices and wayso thinking. While developments in knowledge and

technology are contributing to economic development,

they also have the potential to help resolve the risks

and threats to the sustainability o our social relations,

environment, and economies. New knowledge and

innovations in technology, management, and public

policy are challenging organizations to make new

choices in the way their operations, products, services,

and activities impact the earth, people, and economies.

The urgency and magnitude o the risks and threats

to our collective sustainability, alongside increasing

choice and opportunities, will make transparency

about economic, environmental, and social impacts

a undamental component in eective stakeholder

relations, investment decisions, and other market

relations. To support this expectation, and to

communicate clearly and openly about sustainability,

a globally shared ramework o concepts, consistent

language, and metrics is required. It is the Global

Reporting Initiatives (GRI) mission to ull this need

by providing a trusted and credible ramework

or sustainability reporting that can be used by

organizations o any size, sector, or location.

Transparency about the sustainability o organizational

activities is o interest to a diverse range o stakeholders,

including business, labor, non-governmental

organizations, investors, accountancy, and others. This

is why GRI has relied on the collaboration o a large

network o experts rom all o these stakeholder groups

in consensus-seeking consultations. These consultations,

together with practical experience, have continuously

improved the Reporting Framework since GRIs oundingin 1997. This multi-stakeholder approach to learning

has given the Reporting Framework the widespread

credibility it enjoys with a range o stakeholder groups.

1 World Commission on Environment and Development. Our

Common Future. Oxord: Oxord University Press, 1987, p.43.


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Overview of SustainabilityReporting

The Purpose o a Sustainability Report

Sustainability reporting is the practice o measuring,

disclosing, and being accountable to internal and

external stakeholders or organizational perormance

towards the goal o sustainable development.

Sustainability reporting is a broad term considered

synonymous with others used to describe reporting on

economic, environmental, and social impacts (e.g., triple

bottom line, corporate responsibility reporting, etc.).

A sustainability report should provide a balanced

and reasonable representation o the sustainability

perormance o a reporting organization including

both positive and negative contributions.

Sustainability reports based on the GRI Reporting

Framework disclose outcomes and results that occurred

within the reporting period in the context o the

organizations commitments, strategy, and management

approach. Reports can be used or the ollowing

purposes, among others:

Bechmarig and assessing sustainability

perormance with respect to laws, norms, codes,

perormance standards, and voluntary initiatives;

Demostratig how the organization inuences

and is inuenced by expectations about

sustainable development; and

Comparig perormance within an organization

and between dierent organizations over time.

Orientation to the GRI Reporting

Framework

All GRI Reporting Framework documents are developed

using a process that seeks consensus through dialogue

between stakeholders rom business, the investor

community, labor, civil society, accounting, academia,

and others. All Reporting Framework documents are

subject to testing and continuous improvement.

The GRI Reportig Frameworis intended to serve

as a generally accepted ramework or reporting on

an organizations economic, environmental, and social

perormance. It is designed or use by organizations o

any size, sector, or location. It takes into account the

practical considerations aced by a diverse range o

organizations rom small enterprises to those with

extensive and geographically dispersed operations.

The GRI Reporting Framework contains general and

sector-specic content that has been agreed by a wide

range o stakeholders around the world to be generally

applicable or reporting an organizations sustainability

perormance.

The Sustaiabilit Reportig Guidelies (the

Guidelines) consist o Principles or dening report

content and ensuring the quality o reportedinormation. It also includes Standard Disclosures made

up o Perormance Indicators and other disclosure

items, as well as guidance on specic technical topics in

reporting.

Figure 1: The GRI Reporting Framework

SectorSupp

lements

Wha

tt

oRep

ort

HowtoR

ep

ort

Proto

co

ls

StandardDis

closures

Princ

iplesandGuidan

ce

Reporting

Framework


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Idicator Protocols exist or each o the Perormance

Indicators contained in the Guidelines. These Protocols

provide denitions, compilation guidance, and other

inormation to assist report preparers and to ensureconsistency in the interpretation o the Perormance

Indicators. Users o the Guidelines should also use the

Indicator Protocols.

Sector Supplemets complement the Guidelines

with interpretations and guidance on how to apply the

Guidelines in a given sector, and include sector-specic

Perormance Indicators. Applicable Sector Supplements

should be used in addition to the Guidelines rather than

in place o the Guidelines.

Techical Protocols are created to provide guidance on

issues in reporting, such as setting the report boundary.

They are designed to be used in conjunction with the

Guidelines and Sector Supplements and cover issues

that ace most organizations during the reporting

process.

Orientation to the GRI Guidelines

The Sustainability Reporting Guidelines consist o

Reporting Principles, Reporting Guidance, and Standard

Disclosures (including Perormance Indicators). Theseelements are considered to be o equal in weight and

importance.

Part 1 Reportig Priciples ad Guidace

Three main elements o the reporting process are

described in Part 1. To help determine what to report

on, this section covers the Reporting Principles o

materiality, stakeholder inclusiveness, sustainability

context, and completeness, along with a brie set o

tests or each Principle. Application o these Principles

with the Standard Disclosures determines the topics

and Indicators to be reported. This is ollowed byPrinciples o balance, comparability, accuracy, timeliness,

reliability, and clarity, along with tests that can be used

to help achieve the appropriate quality o the reported

inormation. This section concludes with guidance or

reporting organizations on how to dene the range o

entities represented by the report (also called the Report

Boundary).

Figure 2: Overview o the GRI Guidelines

OUTPUTOUTPUTOUTPUT

Performance

Indicators

Profile

Management

Approach

INPUT

INPUT

INPUT

INPU

T

Focused Sustainability Report

StandardDisclosures

PrinciplesandGuidance

Options for Reporting

Guidance for DefiningReport Content

Principles for Defining

Report Content

Principles for Ensuring

Report Quality

Guidance for Report

Boundary Setting


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Part 2 Stadard Disclosures

Part 2 contains the Standard Disclosures that should

be included in sustainability reports. The Guidelines

identiy inormation that is relevant and material to most

organizations and o interest to most stakeholders or

reporting the three types o Standard Disclosures:

Strateg ad Profle: Disclosures that set the

overall context or understanding organizational

perormance such as its strategy, prole, and

governance.

Maagemet Approach: Disclosures that

cover how an organization addresses a given

set o topics in order to provide context or

understanding perormance in a specic area.

Perormace Idicators: Indicators that elicit

comparable inormation on the economic,

environmental, and social perormance o the

organization.

Applying the Guidelines

Gettig Started

All organizations (private, public, or non-prot) areencouraged to report against the Guidelines whether they

are beginners or experienced reporters, and regardless o

their size, sector, or location. Reporting can take various

orms, including web or print, stand alone or combined

with annual or nancial reports.

The rst step is to determine report content. Guidance or

this is provided in Part 1. Some organizations may choose

to introduce reporting against the ull GRI Reporting

Framework rom the outset, while others may want to

start with the most easible and practical topics rst and

phase in reporting on other topics over time. All reporting

organizations should describe the scope o their reporting

and are encouraged to indicate their plans or expanding

their reporting over time.

GRI Applicatio Levels

Upon nalization o their report, preparers should declare

the level to which they have applied the GRI Reporting

Framework via the GRI Application Levels system. This

system aims to provide:

Report readers with clarity about the extent to

which the GRI Guidelines and other ReportingFramework elements have been applied in the

preparation o a report.

Report preparers with a vision or path or

incrementally expanding application o the GRI

Reporting Framework over time.

Declaring an Application Level results in a clear communi-

cation about which elements o the GRI Reporting Frame-

work have been applied in the preparation o a report. To

meet the needs o new beginners, advanced reporters, and

those somewhere in between, there are three levels in the

system. They are titled C, B, and A, The reporting criteria

ound in each level reects an increasing application or

coverage o the GRI Reporting Framework. An organization

can sel-declare a plus (+) at each level (ex., C+, B+, A+) i

they have utilized external assurance.2

An organization sel-declares a reporting level based

on its own assessment o its report content against the

criteria in the GRI Application Levels.

2 See the assurance section under General Reporting Notes

or more inormation on options or assurance.


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In addition to the sel declaration, reporting organizations

can choose one or both o the ollowing options:

Haveanassuranceprovideroeranopiniononthesel-declaration.

RequestthattheGRIchecktheself-declaration.

For more inormation on Application Levels, and

the complete criteria, see the GRI Applications Level

inormation pack available as an insert to this document,

or ound online at www.globalreporting.org.

Request or otifcatio o use

Organizations that have used the Guidelines and/or other

elements o the GRI Reporting Framework as the basis ortheir report are requested to notiy the Global Reporting

Initiative upon its release. While notiying GRI, organizations

can choose any or all o the ollowing options:

SimplynotifytheGRIofthereportandprovide

hard and/or sot copy

RegistertheirreportinGRIsonlinedatabaseofreports

RequestGRIchecktheirself-declaredApplication

Level.

Maximizig Report Value

Sustainability reporting is a living process and tool,

and does not begin or end with a printed or online

publication. Reporting should t into a broader process

or setting organizational strategy, implementing

action plans, and assessing outcomes. Reporting

enables a robust assessment o the organizations

perormance, and can support continuous improvement

in perormance over time. It also serves as a tool or

engaging with stakeholders and securing useul input to

organizational processes.

Part 1: Defning Report Content, Quality,

and Boundary

This section provides Reporting Principles and Reporting

Guidance regarding dening report content, ensuring

the quality o reported inormation, and setting the

Report Boundary.

Reporting Guidance describes actions that can be taken,

or options that the reporting organization can consider

when making decisions on what to report on, and

generally helps interpret or govern the use o the GRI

Reporting Framework. Guidance is provided or dening

report content and setting report Boundary.

Reporting Principles describe the outcomes a report

should achieve and guide decisions throughout thereporting process, such as selecting which topics and

Indicators to report on and how to report on them. Each

o the Principles consists o a denition, an explanation,

and a set o tests or the reporting organization to assess

its use o the Principles. The tests are intended to serve

as tools or sel-diagnosis, but not as specic disclosures

to report against. Tests can, however, serve as a reerence

or explaining decisions about the application o the

Principles

Together, the Principles are intended to help achieve

transparency a value and a goal that underlies allaspects o sustainability reporting. Transparency can

be dened as the complete disclosure o inormation

on the topics and Indicators required to reect impacts

and enable stakeholders to make decisions, and the

processes, procedures, and assumptions used to

prepare those disclosures. The Principles themselves are

organized into two groups:

PrinciplesfordeterminingthetopicsandIndicators

on which the organization should report; and

Principlesforensuringthequalityandappropriate

presentation o reported inormation.

The Principles have been grouped in this way to help

clariy their role and unction, but this does not impose a

rigid restriction on their use. Each Principle can support a

range o decisions, and may prove useul in considering

questions beyond just dening report content or ensuring

the quality o reported inormation.


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Materiality

Stakeholder

Inclusiveness

Sustainability

Context

Completeness

INPUT

Principlesand

Guidance


Principles for Defining

Report Content

1.1 Defning Report Content

In order to ensure a balanced and reasonable

presentation o the organizations perormance, a

determination must be made about what content the

report should cover. This determination should be

made by considering both the organizations purpose

and experience, and the reasonable expectations and

interests o the organizations stakeholders. Both are

important reerence points when deciding what to

include in the report.

Reportig Guidace or Defig Cotet

The ollowing approach governs the use o the GRI

Reporting Framework in preparing sustainability reports.

More detailed guidance on dening content can be

ound in the Technical Protocol Applying the Report

Content Principles.

IdentifythetopicsandrelatedIndicatorsthatare

relevant, and thereore might be appropriate to

report, by undergoing an iterative process using the

Principles o materiality, stakeholder inclusiveness,

sustainability context, and guidance on setting the

Report Boundary.

Whenidentifyingtopics,considertherelevanceof

all Indicator Aspects identied in the GRI Guidelinesand applicable Sector Supplements. Also consider

other topics, i any, that are relevant to report.

FromthesetofrelevanttopicsandIndicators

identied, use the tests listed or each Principle to

assess which topics and Indicators are material,

and thereore should be reported3.

UsethePrinciplestoprioritizeselectedtopicsand

decide which will be emphasized.

Thespecicmethodsorprocessesusedfor

assessing materiality should:

Dierfor,andcanbedenedby,eachorganization;

Alwaystakeintoaccounttheguidanceand

tests ound in the GRI Reporting Principles; and

Bedisclosed.

In applying this approach:

DierentiatebetweenCoreandAdditional

Indicators. All Indicators have been developed

through GRIs multi-stakeholder processes, and

those designated as Core are generally applicable

Indicators and are assumed to be material or most

organizations. An organization should report on

these unless they are deemed not material on

the basis o the Reporting Principles. Additional

Indicators may also be determined to be material.

TheIndicatorsinnalversionsofSector

Supplements are considered to be Core Indicators,

and should be applied using the same approach as

the Core Indicators ound in the Guidelines.

Allotherinformation(e.g.,companyspecicIndicators) included in the report should be

subject to the same Reporting Principles and

have the same technical rigor as GRI Standard

Disclosures.

Conrmthattheinformationtobereportedand

the Report Boundary are appropriate by applying

the Principle o completeness.

Figure 3: Principles or dening report Content

3 GRI Organizational Prole Disclosures (1-4) apply to all

reporting organizations.


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Reportig Priciples or Defig Cotet

Each o the Reporting Principles consists o a denition,

an explanation, and a set o tests to guide the use o

the Principles. The tests are intended to serve as tools

or sel-diagnosis, but not as specic Disclosure items to

report against. The Principles should be used together

with the guidance on dening content.

MateRiality

Defitio:The inormation in a report should cover

topics and Indicators that:

reecttheorganizationssignicanteconomic,

environmental, and social impacts or that

wouldsubstantivelyinuencetheassessmentsand

decisions o stakeholders.

Explaatio: Organizations are aced with a wide range

o topics on which it could report. Relevant topics and

Indicators are those that may reasonably be considered

important or reecting the organizations economic,

environmental, and social impacts, or inuencing the

decisions o stakeholders, and, thereore, potentially merit

inclusion in the report. Materiality is the threshold at

which topics or Indicators become suciently important

that they should be reported. Beyond this threshold, not

all material topics will be o equal importance and theemphasis within a report should reect the relative priority

o these material topics and Indicators.

In nancial reporting, materiality is commonly thought

o as a threshold or inuencing the economic decisions

o those using an organizations nancial statements,

investors in particular. The concept o a threshold is also

important in sustainability reporting, but it is concerned

with a wider range o impacts and stakeholders.

Materiality or sustainability reporting is not limited only

to those sustainability topics that have a signicant

nancial impact on the organization. Determiningmateriality or a sustainability report also includes

considering economic, environmental, and social

impacts that cross a threshold in aecting the ability to

meet the needs o the present without compromising

the needs o uture generations.4 These material topics

will oten have a signicant nancial impact in the near-

term or long-term on an organization. They will thereore

also be relevant or stakeholders who ocus strictly on

the nancial condition o an organization.

A combination o internal and external actors should

be used to determine whether inormation is material,

including actors such as the organizations overall

mission and competitive strategy, concerns expresseddirectly by stakeholders, broader social expectations,

and the organizations inuence on upstream (e.g.,

supply chain) and downstream (e.g., customers) entities.

Assessments o materiality should also take into account

the basic expectations expressed in the international

standards and agreements with which the organization

is expected to comply.

These internal and external actors should be considered

when evaluating the importance o inormation or

reecting signicant economic, environmental, and

social impacts, or stakeholder decision making.5 A range

o established methodologies can be used to assess the

signicance o impacts. In general, signicant impacts

reer to those that are a subject o established concern

or expert communities, or that have been identied

using established tools such as impact assessment

methodologies or lie cycle assessments. Impacts that

are considered important enough to require active

management or engagement by the organization can

likely be considered to be signicant.

Significance of Economic, Environmental, and Social Impacts

InfluenceonStakeholderAssessmentsandDecisions

MaterialT

opics

Non-MaterialTopics

Low

Relativ

eRep

ortin

gPriority

High

Figure 4: Dening Materiality

4 World Commission on Environment and Development. Our Common Future. Oxord: Oxord University Press, 1987, p. 43.5 See the principle o stakeholder inclusion or a discussion o stakeholders.


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The report should emphasize inormation on perormance

regarding the most material topics. Other relevant topics

can be included, but should be given less prominence in

the report. The process by which the relative priority otopics was determined should be explained.

In addition to guiding the selection o topics to report, the

Materiality Principle also applies to the use o Perormance

Indicators. When disclosing perormance data, there are

varying degrees o comprehensiveness and detail that

could be provided in a report. In some cases, GRI

guidance exists on the level o detail generally considered

appropriate or a specic Indicator. Overall, decisions on

how to report data should be guided by the importance

o the inormation or assessing the perormance o the

organization, and acilitating appropriate comparisons.

Reporting on material topics may involve disclosing

inormation used by external stakeholders that diers

rom the inormation used internally or day-to-day

management purposes. However, such inormation

does indeed belong in a report, where it can inorm

assessments or decision-making by stakeholders, or

support engagement with stakeholders that can result in

actions that would signicantly inuence perormance

or address key topics o stakeholder concern.

Tests

In dening material topics, take into account the

ollowing:

R Reasonably estimable sustainability impacts, risks,

or opportunities (e.g., global warming, HIV-AIDS,

poverty) identied through sound investigation

by people with recognized expertise, or by expert

bodies with recognized credentials in the eld.

Signicance to Stakeholders, including:

RMain sustainability interests/topics and Indicatorsraised by stakeholders (e.g., vulnerable groups

within local communities, civil society).

R The main topics and uture challenges or the

sector reported by peers and competitors.

R Relevant laws, regulations, internationalagreements, or voluntary agreements with

strategic signicance to the organization and its

stakeholders.

Signicance to the Organization, including:

R Key organizational values, policies, strategies,

operational management systems, goals, and

targets.

R The interests/expectations o stakeholders

specically invested in the success o the organi-

zation (e.g., employees, shareholders, and suppliers).

R Signicant risks to the organization.

R Critical actors or enabling organizational success.

R The core competencies o the organization and the

manner in which they can or could contribute to

sustainable development.

Prioritizing

R The report prioritizes material topics and Indicators.


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StakeholdeR incluSiveneSS

Defitio:The reporting organization should identiy

its stakeholders and explain in the report how it hasresponded to their reasonable expectations and interests.

Explaatio: Stakeholders are dened as entities or

individuals that can reasonably be expected to be

signicantly aected by the organizations activities,

products, and/or services; and whose actions can

reasonably be expected to aect the ability o the

organization to successully implement its strategies

and achieve its objectives. This includes entities or

individuals whose rights under law or international

conventions provide them with legitimate claims vis--

vis the organization.

Stakeholders can include those who are invested in the

organization (e.g., employees, shareholders, suppliers)

as well as those who have other relationships to the

organization (e.g., vulnerable groups within local

communities, civil society).

The reasonable expectations and interests o

stakeholders are a key reerence point or many

decisions in the preparation o a report, such as

the scope, boundary, application o Indicators,

and assurance approach. However, not all o an

organizations stakeholders will use the report. Thispresents challenges in balancing the specic interests/

expectations o stakeholders who can reasonably be

expected to use the report with broader expectations o

accountability to all stakeholders.

For some decisions, such as the report scope or

boundary o a report, the reasonable expectations and

interests o a wide range o stakeholder will need to be

considered. There may be, or example, stakeholders

who are unable to articulate their views on a report

and whose concerns are presented by proxies. There

may also be stakeholders who choose not to express

views on reports because they rely on dierent means

o communication and engagement. The reasonable

expectations and interests o these stakeholders should

still be acknowledged in decisions about the content

o the report. However, other decisions, such as the

level o detail required to be useul to stakeholders, or

expectations o dierent stakeholders about what is

required to achieve clarity, may require greater emphasis

on those who can reasonably be expected to use the

report. It is important to document the processes and

approach taken in making these decisions.

Stakeholder engagement processes can serve as tools

or understanding the reasonable expectations and

interests o stakeholders. Organizations typically initiate

dierent types o stakeholder engagement as part otheir regular activities, which can provide useul inputs or

decisions on reporting. These may include, or example,

stakeholder engagement or the purpose o compliance

with internationally-agreed standards, or inorming

ongoing organizational/ business processes. In addition,

stakeholder engagement may also be implemented

specically to inorm the report preparation process.

Organizations can also use other means such as the

media, the scientic community, or collaborative activities

with peers and stakeholders. These means can help the

organization better understand stakeholders reasonable

expectations and interests.

For a report to be assurable, the process o stakeholder

engagement should be documented. When stakeholder

engagement processes are used or reporting purposes,

they should be based on systematic or generally-

accepted approaches, methodologies, or principles.

The overall approach should be suciently eective

to ensure that stakeholders inormation needs are

properly understood. The reporting organization should

document its approach or dening which stakeholders

it engaged with, how and when it engaged with them,

and how engagement has inuenced the report content

and the organizations sustainability activities. Theseprocesses should be capable o identiying direct input

rom stakeholders as well as legitimately established

societal expectations. An organization may encounter

conicting views or diering expectations among its

stakeholders, and will need to be able to explain how it

balanced these in reaching its reporting decisions.

Failure to identiy and engage with stakeholders is

likely to result in reports that are not suitable, and

thereore not ully credible, to all stakeholders. In

contrast, systematic stakeholder engagement enhances

stakeholder receptivity and the useulness o thereport. Executed properly, it is likely to result in ongoing

learning within the organization and by external

parties, as well as increase accountability to a range o

stakeholders. Accountability strengthens trust between

the reporting organization and its stakeholders.

Trust, in turn, orties report credibility.


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Tests:

R The organization can describe the stakeholders to

whom it considers itsel accountable.

R The report content draws upon the outcomes

o stakeholder engagement processes used by

the organization in its ongoing activities, and as

required by the legal and institutional ramework

in which it operates.

R The report content draws upon the outcomes

o any stakeholder engagement processes

undertaken specically or the report.

R The stakeholder engagement processes that

inorm decisions about the report are consistent

with the scope and boundary o the report.

SuStainability context

Defitio:The report should present the organizations

perormance in the wider context o sustainability.

Explaatio: Inormation on perormance should

be placed in context. The underlying question o

sustainability reporting is how an organization

contributes, or aims to contribute in the uture, to

the improvement or deterioration o economic,

environmental, and social conditions, developments,

and trends at the local, regional, or global level.

Reporting only on trends in individual perormance (or

the eciency o the organization) will ail to respond

to this underlying question. Reports should thereore

seek to present perormance in relation to broader

concepts o sustainability. This will involve discussingthe perormance o the organization in the context o

the limits and demands placed on environmental or

social resources at the sectoral, local, regional, or global

level. For example, this could mean that in addition to

reporting on trends in eco-eciency, an organization

might also present its absolute pollution loading in

relation to the capacity o the regional ecosystem to

absorb the pollutant.

This concept is oten most clearly articulated in the

environmental arena in terms o global limits on

resource use and pollution levels. However, it can also berelevant with respect to social and economic objectives

such as national or international socio-economic

and sustainable development goals. For example, an

organization could report on employee wages and

social benet levels in relation to nation-wide minimum

and median income levels, and the capacity o social

saety nets to absorb those in poverty or those living

close to the poverty line. Organizations operating in a

diverse range o locations, sizes, and sectors will need to

consider how to best rame their overall organizational

perormance in the broader context o sustainability.

This may require distinguishing between topics or

actors that drive global impacts (such as climate

change) and those that have more regional or local

impacts (such as community development). When

reporting on topics that have positive or negative local

impacts, it is important to provide insight into how the

organization aects communities in dierent locations.

Similarly, distinctions might need to be made between

trends or patterns o impacts across the range o

operations versus contextualizing perormance location

by location.

The organizations own sustainability and business

strategy provides the context in which to discuss


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perormance. The relationship between sustainability and

organizational strategy should be made clear, as should

the context within which perormance is reported.

Tests:

R The organization presents its understanding o

sustainable development and draws on objective

and available inormation as well as measures o

sustainable development or the topics covered in

the report.

R The organization presents its perormance with

reerence to broader sustainable development

conditions and goals, as reected in recognized

sectoral, local, regional, and/or global publications.

R The organization presents its perormance in

a manner that attempts to communicate the

magnitude o its impact and contribution in

appropriate geographical contexts.

R The report describes how sustainability topics

relate to long-term organizational strategy, risks,

and opportunities, including supply-chain topics.

coMpleteneSS

Defitio: Coverage o the material topics and

Indicators and denition o the report boundary

should be sucient to reect signicant economic,

environmental, and social impacts and enable

stakeholders to assess the reporting organizations

perormance in the reporting period.

Explaatio: Completeness primarily encompasses the

dimensions o scope, boundary, and time. The concept

o completeness can also be used to reer to practices

in inormation collection (or example, ensuring that

compiled data includes results rom all sites within the

Report Boundary) and whether the presentation o

inormation is reasonable and appropriate. These topics

are related to report quality, and are addressed in greater

detail under the Principles o accuracy and balance later

in Part 1.

Scope reers to the range o sustainability topics covered

in a report. The sum o the topics and Indicators reported

should be sucient to reect signicant economic,

environmental, and social impacts. It should also enable

stakeholders to assess the organizations perormance.

In determining whether the inormation in the report

is sucient, the organization should consider both the

results o stakeholder engagement processes and broad-

based societal expectations that may not have suraced

directly through stakeholder engagement processes.

Boundary reers to the range o entities (e.g.,

subsidiaries, joint ventures, sub-contractors, etc.) whose

perormance is represented by the report. In setting the

boundary or its report, an organization must consider

the range o entities over which it exercises control

(oten reerred to as the organizational boundary, and

usually linked to denitions used in nancial reporting)

and over which it exercises inuence (oten called the

operational boundary). In assessing inuence, the

organization will need to consider its ability to inuence

entities upstream (e.g., in its supply chain) as well asentities downstream (e.g., distributors and users o its

products and services). The boundary may vary based

on the specic Aspect or type o inormation being

reported.

Time reers to the need or the selected inormation to

be complete or the time period specied by the report.

As ar as practicable, activities, events, and impacts

should be presented or the reporting period in which

they occur. This includes reporting on activities that

produce minimal short-term impact, but which have


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a signicant and reasonably oreseeable cumulative

eect that may become unavoidable or irreversible in

the longer term (e.g., bio-accumulative or persistent

pollutants). In making estimates o uture impacts (bothpositive and negative), the reported inormation should

be based on well-reasoned estimates that reect the

likely size, nature, and scope o impacts. Although such

estimates are by nature subject to uncertainty, they can

provide useul inormation or decision-making as long

as the basis or estimates is clearly disclosed and the

limitations o the estimates are clearly acknowledged.

Disclosing the nature and likelihood o such impacts,

even i they may only materialize in the uture, is

consistent with the goal o providing a balanced

and reasonable representation o the organizations

economic, environmental, and social perormance.

Tests:

R The report was developed taking into account the

entire chain o entities upstream and downstream,

and covers and prioritizes all inormation that

should reasonably be considered material on the

basis o the principles o materiality, sustainability

context, and stakeholder inclusiveness.

R The report includes all entities that meet the

criteria o being subject to control or signicant

inuence o the reporting organization unlessotherwise declared.

R The inormation in the report includes all

signicant actions or events in the reporting

period, and reasonable estimates o signicant

uture impacts o past events when those impacts

are reasonably oreseeable and may become

unavoidable or irreversible.

R The report does not omit relevant inormation

that would inuence or inorm stakeholder

assessments or decisions, or that would reectsignicant economic, environmental, and social

impacts.

1.2 Reporting Principles or

Defning Quality

This section contains Principles that guide choices on

ensuring the quality o reported inormation, including

its proper presentation. Decisions related to the

process o preparing inormation in a report should be

consistent with these Principles. All o these Principles

are undamental or eective transparency. The quality

o inormation enables stakeholders to make sound

and reasonable assessments o perormance, and take

appropriate action.

Reportig Priciples or Defig Qualit

balance

Defitio:The report should reect positive andnegative aspects o the organizations perormance to

enable a reasoned assessment o overall perormance.

Explaatio:The overall presentation o the reports

content should provide an unbiased picture o the

reporting organizations perormance. The report should

avoid selections, omissions, or presentation ormats

that are reasonably likely to unduly or inappropriately

inuence a decision or judgment by the report

reader. The report should include both avorable and

unavorable results, as well as topics that can inuence

the decisions o stakeholders in proportion to theirmateriality. Reports should clearly distinguish between

actual presentation and the reporting organizations

interpretation o inormation.

Tests:

R The report discloses both avorable and

unavorable results and topics.

R The inormation in the report is presented in

a ormat that allows users to see positive and

negative trends in perormance on a year-to-year

basis.

R The emphasis on the various topics in the report is

proportionate to their relative materiality.


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coMpaRability

Defitio: Issues and inormation should be selected,

compiled, and reported consistently. Reported

inormation should be presented in a manner that

enables stakeholders to analyze changes in the

organizations perormance over time, and could

support analysis relative to other organizations.

Explaatio: Comparability is necessary or evaluating

perormance. Stakeholders using the report should be

able to compare inormation reported on economic,

environmental, and social perormance against the

organizations past perormance, its objectives, and, to

the degree possible, against the perormance o other

organizations. Consistency in reporting allows internal

and external parties to benchmark perormance and

assess progress as part o rating activities, investment

decisions, advocacy programs, and other activities.

Comparisons between organizations require sensitivity

to actors such as dierences in organizational size,

geographic inuences, and other considerations that

may aect the relative perormance o an organization.

Where necessary, report preparers should consider

providing context that will help report users understand

the actors that may contribute to dierences in

perormance between organizations.

Maintaining consistency with the methods used to

calculate data, with the layout o the report, and withexplaining the methods and assumptions used to

prepare inormation, all acilitates comparability over

time. As the relative importance o topics to a given

organization and its stakeholders change over time, the

content o reports will also evolve. However, within the

connes o the Principle o Materiality, organizations

should aim or consistency in their reports over time.

An organization should include total numbers (i.e.,

absolute data such as tons o waste) as well as ratios (i.e.,

normalized data such as waste per unit o production) to

enable analytical comparisons.

When changes occur with the boundary, scope, length

o the reporting period, or content (including the design,

denitions, and use o any Indicators in the report),

reporting organizations should, whenever practicable,

restate current disclosures alongside historical data

(or vice versa). This ensures that inormation and

comparisons are both reliable and meaningul over

time. Where such restatements are not provided, thereport should explain the reasons and implications or

interpreting current disclosures.

Tests:

R The report and the inormation contained within it

can be compared on a year-to-year basis.

R The organizations perormance can be compared

with appropriate benchmarks.

R Any signicant variation between reporting

periods in the boundary, scope, length o

reporting period, or inormation covered in the

report can be identied and explained.

Balance

Clarity

Accuracy

Timeliness

Comparability

Reliability

INPUT

Principlesand

Guid

ance


Principles for Ensuring

Report Quality

Figure 5: Principles or Ensuring Report Quality


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R Where they are available, the report utilizes

generally accepted protocols or compiling,

measuring, and presenting inormation, including

the GRI Technical Protocols or Indicators contained

in the Guidelines.

R The report uses GRI Sector Supplements, where

available.

accuRacy

Defitio:The reported inormation should be

suciently accurate and detailed or stakeholders toassess the reporting organizations perormance.

Explaatio: Responses to economic, environmental,

and social topics and Indicators can be expressed

in many dierent ways, ranging rom qualitative

responses to detailed quantitative measurements.

The characteristics that determine accuracy vary

according to the nature o the inormation and the

user o the inormation. For example, the accuracy o

qualitative inormation is largely determined by the

degree o clarity, detail, and balance in presentation

within the appropriate Report Boundary. The accuracy

o quantitative inormation, on the other hand, may

depend on the specic methods used to gather, compile,

and analyze data. The specic threshold o accuracy that

is necessary will depend partly on the intended use o

the inormation. Certain decisions will require higher

levels o accuracy in reported inormation than others.

Tests:

R The report indicates the data that has been

measured.

R The data measurement techniques and bases orcalculations are adequately described, and can be

replicated with similar results.

R The margin o error or quantitative data is not

sucient to substantially inuence the ability o

stakeholders to reach appropriate and inormed

conclusions on perormance.

R The report indicates which data has been

estimated and the underlying assumptions and

techniques used to produce the estimates, or

where that inormation can be ound.

R The qualitative statements in the report are valid

on the basis o other reported inormation and

other available evidence.


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tiMelineSS

Defitio: Reporting occurs on a regular schedule and

inormation is available in time or stakeholders to makeinormed decisions.

Explaatio:The useulness o inormation is

closely tied to whether the timing o its disclosure to

stakeholders enables them to eectively integrate it into

their decision-making. The timing o release reers both

to the regularity o reporting as well as its proximity to

the actual events described in the report.

Although a constant ow o inormation is desirable or

meeting certain purposes, reporting organizations should

commit to regularly providing a consolidated disclosure

o their economic, environmental, and social perormance

at a single point in time. Consistency in the requency

o reporting and the length o reporting periods is also

necessary to ensure comparability o inormation over

time and accessibility o the report to stakeholders. It

can be o value or stakeholders i the schedules or

sustainability reporting and nancial reporting are

aligned. The organization should balance the need

to provide inormation in a timely manner with the

importance o ensuring that the inormation is reliable.

Tests:

R Inormation in the report has been disclosed while

it is recent relative to the reporting period.

R The collection and publication o key perormance

inormation is aligned with the sustainability

reporting schedule.

R The inormation in the report (including web-

based reports) clearly indicates the time period to

which it relates, when it will be updated, and when

the last updates were made.

claRity

Defitio: Inormation should be made available in

a manner that is understandable and accessible tostakeholders using the report.

Explaatio:The report should present inormation

in a way that is understandable, accessible, and usable

by the organizations range o stakeholders (whether

in print orm or through other channels). A stakeholder

should be able to nd desired inormation without

unreasonable eort. Inormation should be presented

in a manner that is comprehensible to stakeholders who

have a reasonable understanding o the organization

and its activities. Graphics and consolidated data

tables can help make the inormation in the report

accessible and understandable. The level o aggregation

o inormation can also aect the clarity o a report

i it is either signicantly more or less detailed than

stakeholders expect.

Tests:

R The report contains the level o inormation

required by stakeholders, but avoids excessive and

unnecessary detail.

R Stakeholders can nd the specic inormation they

want without unreasonable eort through tableso contents, maps, links, or other aids.

R The report avoids technical terms, acronyms,

jargon, or other content likely to be unamiliar to

stakeholders, and should include explanations

(where necessary) in the relevant section or in a

glossary.

R The data and inormation in the report is available

to stakeholders, including those with particular

accessibility needs (e.g., diering abilities,

language, or technology).


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Reliability

Defitio: Inormation and processes used in the

preparation o a report should be gathered, recorded,compiled, analyzed, and disclosed in a way that could be

subject to examination and that establishes the quality

and materiality o the inormation.

Explaatio: Stakeholders should have condence that

a report could be checked to establish the veracity o its

contents and the extent to which it has appropriately

applied Reporting Principles. The inormation and data

included in a report should be supported by internal

controls or documentation that could be reviewed

by individuals other than those who prepared the

report. Disclosures about perormance that are not

substantiated by evidence should not appear in a

sustainability report unless they represent material

inormation, and the report provides unambiguous

explanations o any uncertainties associated with the

inormation. The decision-making processes underlying

a report should be documented in a manner that

allows the basis o key decisions (such as processes

or determining the report content and boundary or

stakeholder engagement) to be examined. In designing

inormation systems, reporting organizations should

anticipate that the systems could be examined as part o

an external assurance process.

Tests:

R The scope and extent o external assurance is

identied.

R The original source o the inormation in the report

can be identied by the organization.

R Reliable evidence to support assumptions or

complex calculations can be identied by the

organization.

R Representation is available rom the original data

or inormation owners, attesting to its accuracy

within acceptable margins o error.

1.3 Reporting Guidance orBoundary Setting6

In parallel with dening the content o a report, anorganization must determine which entities (e.g.,

subsidiaries and joint ventures) perormance will be

represented by the report. The Sustainability Report

Boundary should include the entities over which the

reporting organization exercises control or signicant

inuence both in and through its relationships with

various entities upstream (e.g., supply chain) and

downstream (e.g., distribution and customers).

For the purpose o setting boundaries, the ollowing

denitions should apply7:

Control:thepowertogovernthenancialand

operating policies o an enterprise so as to obtain

benets rom its activities.

Signicantinuence:thepowertoparticipatein

the nancial and operating policy decisions o the

entity but not the power to control those policies.

The guidance below on setting the Report Boundary

pertains to the report as a whole as well as setting the

boundary or individual Perormance Indicators.

Not all entities within the Report Boundary must bereported on in the same manner. The approach to

reporting on an entity will depend on a combination

o the reporting organizations control or inuence

over the entity, and whether the disclosure relates to

operational perormance, management perormance,

or narrative/descriptive inormation.

The Report Boundary guidance is based on the

recognition that dierent relationships involve diering

degrees o access to inormation and the ability to aect

outcomes. For example, operational inormation such

as emissions data can be reliably compiled rom entitiesunder the control o an organization, but may not be

available or a joint venture or a supplier. The Report

Boundary guidance below sets minimum expectations

or the inclusion o entities upstream and downstream

when reporting on Indicators and management

disclosures. However, an organization may determine

that it is necessary to extend the boundary or an

Indicator(s) to include entities upstream or downstream.

6 The guidance on Report Boundary has been derived rom the Boundary Protocol. Future updates to the Guidelines will

incorporate any urther lessons or guidance developed rom experience with the Reporting Boundary Protocol.

7 Further discussion o these terms can be ound in the Boundary Protocol.


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Determining the signicance o an entity when

collecting inormation or considering the extension o a

boundary depends on the scale o its sustainability

impacts. Entities with signicant impacts typicallygenerate the greatest risk or opportunity or an

organization and its stakeholders, and thereore are the

entities or which the organization is most likely to be

perceived as being accountable or responsible.

Reportig Guidace or Boudar Settig

Asustainabilityreportshouldincludeinits

boundary all entities that generate signicantsustainability impacts (actual and potential) and/

or all entities over which the reporting organization

exercises control or signicant inuence with regard

to nancial and operating policies and practices.

Theseentitiescanbeincludedusingeither

Indicators o operational perormance, Indicators

o management perormance, or narrative

descriptions.

Ataminimum,thereportingorganizationshould

include the ollowing entities in its report using

these approaches:

Entitiesoverwhichtheorganizationexercises

control should be covered by Indicators o

Operational Perormance; and

Entitiesoverwhichtheorganizationexercises

signicant inuence should be covered by

Disclosures on Management Approach.

Do you have control

over the entity?

Does it have significant

impacts?

Do you have significant

influence?

Does it have significant

impacts?

Do you have influence?

Does it have significantimpacts?

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Exclude

No

Not

necessary

to report

No

Notnecessary

to report

No

Not

necessary

to report

Yes

Yes

Performance Data

Disclosures on Management Approach

Narrative reportinng on Issues and Dilemmas

Figure 6: Decision Tree or Boundary Setting


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OUTPUTOUTPUTOUTPUT

Focused Sustainability Report

Standard

Discl

osures

Context

Strategy & Analysis

Report Parameters

Governance,Commitments, and

Engagement

Management Approach

Results

Economic

Environmental

Labor Practices andDecent Work

Human Rights

Society

ProductResponsibility

Performance

Indicators

Profile

Management

Approach

Theboundariesfornarrativedisclosuresshould

include entities over which the organization does

not exercise control/signicant inuence, but

which are associated with key challenges or theorganization because their impacts are signicant

Thereportshouldcoverallentitieswithinits

Report Boundary. In the process o preparing its

report, an organization may choose not to gather

data on a particular entity or group o entities

within the dened boundary on the basis o

eciency as long as such a decision does not sub-

stantively change the nal result o a Disclosure

or Indicator.

Part 2: Standard Disclosures

This section species the base content that should

appear in a sustainability report, subject to the guidanceon determining content in Part 1 o the Guidelines.

There are three dierent types o disclosures contained

in this section.

Strateg ad Profle: Disclosures that set the

overall context or understanding organizational

perormance such as its strategy, prole, and

governance.

Maagemet Approach: Disclosures that

cover how an organization addresses a given

set o topics in order to provide context or

understanding perormance in a specic area.

Perormace Idicators: Indicators that elicit

comparable inormation on the economic,

environmental, and social perormance o the

organization.

Reporting organizations are encouraged to ollow

this structure in compiling their reports, however,

other ormats may be chosen.

Figure 7: Overview o GRI Standard Disclosures


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Profle

1. Strateg ad Aalsis

This section is intended to provide a high-level, strategicview o the organizations relationship to sustainability

in order to provide context or subsequent and more

detailed reporting against other sections o the

Guidelines. It may draw on inormation provided in

other parts o the report, but this section is intended to

produce insight on strategic topics rather than simply

summarize the contents o the report. The strategy and

analysis should consist o the statement outlined in 1.1

and a concise narrative outlined in 1.2.

1.1 Statement rom the most senior decision-

maker o the organization (e.g., CEO, chair, or

equivalent senior position) about the relevance o

sustainability to the organization and its strategy.

The statement should present the overall vision

and strategy or the short-term, medium-term (e.g.,

3-5 years), and long-term, particularly with regard

to managing the key challenges associated with


The statement should include:

Strategicprioritiesandkeytopicsfortheshort/

medium-term with regard to sustainability,

including respect or internationally agreedstandards and how they relate to long-term

organizational strategy and success;

Broadertrends(e.g.,macroeconomicor

political) aecting the organization and

inuencing sustainability priorities;

Keyevents,achievements,andfailuresduring

the reporting period;

Viewsonperformancewithrespecttotargets;

Outlookontheorganizationsmainchallenges

and targets or the next year and goals or the

coming 3-5 years; and

Otheritemspertainingtotheorganizations

strategic approach.

1.2 Description o key impacts, risks, and opportunities.

The reporting organization should provide two

concise narrative sections on key impacts, risks,and opportunities.

Section One should ocus on the organizations key

impacts on sustainability and eects on

stakeholders, including rights as dened by

national laws and relevant internationally agreed

standards. This should take into account the range

o reasonable expectations and interests o the

organizations stakeholders. This section should

include:

Adescriptionofthesignicantimpacts

the organization has on sustainability and

associated challenges and opportunities. This

includes the eect on stakeholders rights as

dened by national laws and the expectations

in internationally-agreed standards and norms;

Anexplanationoftheapproachtoprioritizing

these challenges and opportunities;

Keyconclusionsaboutprogressinaddressing

these topics and related perormance in the

reporting period. This includes an assessment

o reasons or underperormance or over-perormance; and

Adescriptionofthemainprocessesinplaceto

address perormance and/or relevant changes.

Section Two should ocus on the impact o

sustainability trends, risks, and opportunities on

the long-term prospects and nancial perormance

o the organization. This should concentrate

specically on inormation relevant to nancial

stakeholders or that could become so in the uture.

Section Two should include the ollowing:

Adescriptionofthemostimportantrisksand

opportunities or the organization arising rom

sustainability trends;

Prioritizationofkeysustainabilitytopicsas

risks and opportunities according to their

relevance or long-term organizational

strategy, competitive position, qualitative, and

(i possible) quantitative nancial value drivers;


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Table(s)summarizing:

Targets,performanceagainsttargets,and

lessons-learned or the current reportingperiod; and

Targetsforthenextreportingperiodand

mid-term objectives and goals (i.e., 3-5

years) related to key risks and opportunities.

Concisedescriptionofgovernancemechanisms

in place to specically manage these risks and

opportunities, and identication o other related

risks and opportunities.

2. Orgaizatioal Profle

2.1 Name o the organization.

2.2 Primary brands, products, and/or services.

The reporting organization should indicate the

nature of its role in providing these products

and services, and the degree to which it utilizes

outsourcing.

2.3 Operational structure o the organization,

including main divisions, operating companies,

subsidiaries, and joint ventures.

2.4 Location o organizations headquarters.

2.5 Number o countries where the organization

operates, and names o countries with either major

operations or that are specically relevant to the

sustainability issues covered in the report.

2.6 Nature o ownership and legal orm.

2.7 Markets served (including geographic breakdown,

sectors served, and types o customers/beneciaries).

2.8 Scale o the reporting organization, including:

Numberofemployees;

Numberofoperations;

Netsales(forprivatesectororganizations)or

net revenues (or public sector organizations);

Totalcapitalizationbrokendowninterms

o debt and equity (or private sector

organizations); and

Quantityofproductsorservicesprovided.

In addition to the above, reporting organizations are

encouraged to provide additional information, asappropriate, such as:

Totalassets;

Benecialownership(includingidentityand

percentageofownershipoflargestshareholders);

and

Breakdownsbycountry/regionofthefollowing:

Sales/revenuesbycountries/regionsthat

makeup5percentormoreoftotalrevenues;

Costsbycountries/regionsthatmakeup5

percentormoreoftotalrevenues;and

Employees.

2.9 Signicant changes during the reporting period

regarding size, structure, or ownership including:

Thelocationof,orchangesinoperations,

including acility openings, closings, and

expansions; and

Changesinthesharecapitalstructureand

other capital ormation, maintenance, and

alteration operations (or private sector

organizations).

2.10 Awards received in the reporting period.

3. Report Parameters

RepoRt pRofile

3.1 Reporting period (e.g., scal/calendar year) or

inormation provided.

3.2 Date o most recent previous report (i any).

3.3 Reporting cycle (annual, biennial, etc.)

3.4 Contact point or questions regarding the report or

its contents.

RepoRt Scope and boundaRy

3.5 Process or dening report content, including:

Determiningmateriality;


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Prioritizingtopicswithinthereport;and

Identifyingstakeholderstheorganization

expects to use the report.

Include an explanation of how the organization has

appliedtheGuidanceonDeningReportContent,

the associated Principles and the Technical Protocol

ApplyingtheReportContentPrinciples.

3.6 Boundary o the report (e.g., countries, divisions,

subsidiaries, leased acilities, joint ventures, suppliers).

See GRI Boundary Protocol or urther guidance.

3.7 State any specic limitations on the scope or

boundary o the report8.

Ifboundaryandscopedonotaddressthefullrange

of material economic, environmental, and social

impactsoftheorganization,statethestrategyand

projected timeline for providing complete coverage.

3.8 Basis or reporting on joint ventures, subsidiaries,

leased acilities, outsourced operations, and other

entities that can signicantly aect comparability

rom period to period and/or between organizations.

3.9 Data measurement techniques and the bases o

calculations, including assumptions and techniquesunderlying estimations applied to the compilation o

the Indicators and other inormation in the report.

Explainanydecisionsnottoapply,ortosubstantially

divergefrom,theGRIIndicatorProtocols.

3.10 Explanation o the eect o any re-statements

o inormation provided in earlier reports, and

the reasons or such re-statement (e.g., mergers/

acquisitions, change o base years/periods, nature

o business, measurement methods).

3.11 Signicant changes rom previous reporting

periods in the scope, boundary, or measurement

methods applied in the report.

GRi content index

3.12 Table identiying the location o the Standard

Disclosures in the report.

Identiy the page numbers or web links where the

ollowing can be ound:

StrategyandAnalysis1.11.2;

OrganizationalProle2.12.10;

ReportParameters3.13.13;

Governance,Commitments,andEngagement

4.1 4.17;

DisclosureofManagementApproach,per

category;

CorePerformanceIndicators;

AnyGRIAdditionalIndicatorsthatwere

included; and

AnyGRISectorSupplementIndicators

included in the report.

aSSuRance

3.13 Policy and current practice with regard to seeking

external assurance or the report. I not included

in the assurance report accompanying the

sustainability report, explain the scope and basis o

any external assurance provided. Also explain the

relationship between the reporting organization

and the assurance provider(s).

4. Goverace, Commitmets, ad Egagemet

GoveRnance

4.1 Governance structure o the organization, including

committees under the highest governance body

responsible or specic tasks, such as setting

strategy or organizational oversight.

Describethemandateandcomposition(including

numberofindependentmembersand/ornon-

executive members) ofthehighestgovernancebody

anditscommittees,andindicateeachindividuals

position andanydirectresponsibilityforeconomic,

social, and environmental performance.

Reportthepercentageofindividualsbygenderwithin

theorganizationshighestgovernancebodyandits

committees,brokendownbyagegroupandminority

groupmembershipandotherindicatorsofdiversity.

Refertodenitionsofageandminoritygroup

in the Indicator Protocol for LA13 and note that

the information reported under 4.1 can be cross

referenced against that reported for LA13.8 See completeness Principle or explanation o scope.


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4.2 Indicate whether the Chair o the highest

governance body is also an executive ocer

(and, i so, their unction within the organizations

management and the reasons or this arrangement).

4.3 For organizations that have a unitary board

structure, state the number and gender o

members o the highest governance body that are

independent and/or non-executive members.

Statehowtheorganizationdenesindependent

andnon-executive.Thiselementappliesonlyfor

organizationsthathaveunitaryboardstructures.

Seetheglossaryforadenitionofindependent.

4.4 Mechanisms or shareholders and employees to

provide recommendations or direction to the

highest governance body.

Include reerence to processes regarding:

Theuseofshareholderresolutionsor

other mechanisms or enabling minority

shareholders to express opinions to the

highest governance body; and

Informingandconsultingemployeesabout

the working relationships with ormal

representation bodies such as organizationlevel work councils, and representation o

employees in the highest governance body.

Identiy topics related to economic, environmental,

and social perormance raised through these

mechanisms during the reporting period.

4.5 Linkage between compensation or members

o the highest governance body, senior

managers, and executives (including departure

arrangements), and the organizations

perormance (including social and environmentalperormance).

4.6 Processes in place or the highest governance

body to ensure conicts o interest are avoided.

4.7 Process or determining the composition,

qualications, and expertise o the members o

the highest governance body and its committees,

including any consideration o gender and other

indicators o diversity.

4.8 Internally developed statements o mission or

values, codes o conduct, and principles relevant to

economic, environmental, and social perormance

and the status o their implementation.

Explain the degree to which these:

Areappliedacrosstheorganizationindierent

regions and department/units; and

Relatetointernationallyagreedstandards.

4.9 Procedures o the highest governance body or

overseeing the organizations identication and

management o economic, environmental, and

social perormance, including relevant risks and

opportunities, and adherence or compliance

with internationally agreed standards, codes o

conduct, and principles.

Includefrequencywithwhichthehighest

governancebodyassessessustainability

performance.

4.10 Processes or evaluating the highest governance

bodys own perormance, particularly with respect to


coMMitMentS to exteRnal initiativeS

4.11

Explanation o whether and how the precautionaryapproach or principle is addressed by the

organization.

Article 15 o the Rio Principles introduced the

precautionary approach. A response to 4.11

could address the organizations approach to

risk management in operational planning or the

development and introduction o new products.

4.12 Externally developed economic, environmental,

and social charters, principles, or other initiatives

to which the organization subscribes or endorses.

Includedateofadoption,countries/operations

whereapplied,andtherangeofstakeholders

involved in the development and governance

oftheseinitiatives(e.g.,multi-stakeholder,etc.).

Dierentiatebetweennon-binding,voluntary

initiatives and those with which the organization

hasanobligationtocomply.

4.13 Memberships in associations (such as industry

associations) and/or national/international

advocacy organizations in which the

organization:


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Haspositionsingovernancebodies;

Participatesinprojectsorcommittees;

Providessubstantivefundingbeyondroutine

membership dues; or

Viewsmembershipasstrategic.

Thisrefersprimarilytomembershipsmaintainedat

the organizational level.

StakeholdeR enGaGeMent

The ollowing Disclosure Items reer to general

stakeholder engagement conducted by the organization

over the course o the reporting period. These

Disclosures are not limited to stakeholder engagement

implemented or the purposes o preparing a

sustainability report.

4.14 List o stakeholder groups engaged by the

organization.

Examples o stakeholder groups are:

Civilsociety;

Customers;

Employees,otherworkers,andtheirtrade

unions;

Localcommunities;

Shareholdersandprovidersofcapital;and

Suppliers.

4.15 Basis or identication and selection o

stakeholders with whom to engage.

Thisincludestheorganizationsprocessfordening

itsstakeholdergroups,andfordeterminingthe

groups with which to engage and not to engage.

4.16 Approaches to stakeholder engagement, including

requency o engagement by type and by

stakeholder group.

Thiscouldincludesurveys,focusgroups,community

panels,corporateadvisorypanels,written

communication,management/unionstructures,

and other vehicles. The organization should indicate

whetheranyoftheengagementwasundertaken

specicallyaspartofthereportpreparationprocess.

4.17 Key topics and concerns that have been raisedthrough stakeholder engagement, and how the

organization has responded to those key topics

and concerns, including through its reporting.

5. Maagemet Approach ad Perormace

Idicators

The section on sustainability Perormance Indicators

is organized by economic, environmental, and social

categories. Social Indicators are urther categorized

by Labor, Human Rights, Society, and Product

Responsibility. Each category includes a Disclosure on

Management Approach (Management Approach) anda corresponding set o Core and Additional Perormance

Indicators.

Core Indicators have been developed through GRIs

multi-stakeholder processes, which are intended to

identiy generally applicable Indicators and are assumed

to be material or most organizations. An organization

should report on Core Indicators unless they are

deemed not material on the basis o the GRI Reporting

Principles. Additional Indicators represent emerging

practice or address topics that may be material or some

organizations, but are not material or others. Wherenal versions o Sector Supplements exist, the Indicators

should be treated as Core Indicators. See Guidance on

Dening Report Content or urther details.

The Disclosure(s) on Management Approach should

provide a brie overview o the organizations

management approach to the Aspects dened under

each Indicator Category in order to set the context or

perormance inormation. The organization can structure

its Disclosure(s) on Management Approach to cover the

ull range o Aspects under a given Category or group

its responses on the Aspects dierently. However, the

Disclosure should address all o the Aspects associated

with each category regardless o the ormat or grouping.

Within the overall structure o the Standard Disclosures,

Strategy and Prole items 1.1 and 1.2 in Strategy and

Analysis are intended to provide a concise overview o

the risks and opportunities acing the organization as

a whole. The Disclosure(s) on Management Approach

is intended to address the next level o detail o the

organizations approach to managing the sustainability

topics associated with risks and opportunities.


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In reporting on the Perormance Indicators, the

ollowing guidance on data compilation applies:

Reportig o Treds: Inormation should bepresented or the current reporting period (e.g.,

one year) and at least two previous periods, as

well as uture targets, where they have been

established, or the short- and medium-term.

Use o Protocols: Organizations should use

the Protocols that accompany the Indicators

when reporting on the Indicators. These give

basic guidance on interpreting and compiling

inormation.

Presetatio o Data: In some cases, ratios

or normalized data are useul and appropriate

ormats or data presentation. I ratios or

normalized data are used, absolute data should

also be provided.

Data aggregatio: Reporting organizations

should determine the appropriate level o

aggregation o inormation. See additional

guidance in the General Reporting Notes section

o the Guidelines.

Metrics: Reported data should be presented

using generally accepted international metrics(e.g., kilograms, tonnes, litres) and calculated

using standard conversion actors. Where specic

international conventions exist (e.g., GHG

equivalents), these are typically specied in the

Indicator Protocols.

Economic

The economic dimension o sustainability concerns the

organizations impacts on the economic conditions o its

stakeholders and on economic systems at local, national,and global levels. The Economic Indicators illustrate:

Flowofcapitalamongdierentstakeholders;and

Maineconomicimpactsoftheorganization

throughout society.

Financial perormance is undamental to understanding

an organization and its own sustainability. However,

this inormation is normally already reported in

nancial accounts. What is oten reported less, and is

requently desired by users o sustainability reports, is

the organizations contribution to the sustainability o a

larger economic system.

Disclosure o Maagemet Approach

Provide a concise disclosure on the Management

Approach items outlined below with reerence to the

ollowing Economic Aspects:

EconomicPerformance;

MarketPresence;and

IndirectEconomicImpacts.

GoalS and peRfoRMance

Organization-wide goals regarding perormance

relevant to the Economic Aspects.

Use organization-specic Indicators (as needed)

in addition to the GRI Perormance Indicators to

demonstrate the results o perormance against goals.

policy

Brie, organization-wide policy (or policies) that denes

the organizations overall commitment relating to the

Economic Aspects listed above, or state where this can

be ound in the public domain (e.g., web link).

additional contextual infoRMation

Additional relevant inormation required to understand

organizational perormance, such as:

Keysuccessesandshortcomings;

Majororganizationalrisksandopportunities;


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Majorchangesinthereportingperiodtosystems

or structures to improve perormance; and

Keystrategiesforimplementingpoliciesorachieving perormance.

Ecoomic Perormace Idicators

aSpect: econoMic peRfoRMance

CORE

EC1 Direct economic value generated anddistributed, including revenues, operating

costs, employee compensation, donations

and other community investments, retained

earnings, and payments to capital providers

and governments.

CORE

EC2 Financial implications and other risks and

opportunities or the organizations activities

due to climate change.

CORE

EC3 Coverage o the organizations dened benet

plan obligations.

CORE

EC4 Signicant nancial assistance received rom

government.

aSpect: MaRket pReSence

ADD

EC5 Range o ratios o standard entry level wage

by gender compared to local minimum wage

at signicant locations o operation.

CORE

EC6 Policy, practices, and proportion o spending

on locally-based suppliers at signicant

locations o operation.

CORE

EC7 Procedures or local hiring and proportion

o senior management hired rom the

local community at locations o signicant

operation.

aSpect: indiRect econoMic iMpactS

CORE

EC8 Development and impact o inrastructure

investments and services provided primarily

or public benet through commercial, in-

kind, or pro bono engagement.

ADD

EC9 Understanding and describing signicant

indirect economic impacts, including the

extent o impacts.


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Environmental

The environmental dimension o sustainability concerns

an organizations impacts on living and non-living

natural systems, including ecosystems, land, air, and

water. Environmental Indicators cover perormance

related to inputs (e.g., material, energy, water) and

outputs (e.g., emissions, efuents, waste). In addition,

they cover perormance related to biodiversity,

environ

Documents

G31GuidelinesinclTechnicalProtocolFinal (GRI)