GRI and UN Global Compact partner to shape the future of SDG-reporting

NEW YORK, September 19, 2016/3BL Media/ - Today, GRI and the United Nations Global Compact will launch SDG Leadership through Reporting, a new initiative to promote and advance corporate reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The two organizations will work together to develop a list of disclosures for tracking business contributions to the SDGs and they will release a publication on SDG-reporting. SDG Leadership through Reporting is one of four new initiatives to be announced by the UN Global Compact. The launch will take place during the United Nations Private Sector Forum 2016, at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Page Content “GRI and the UN Global Compact are united by our conviction that business action will determine the success of the ambitious 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, and the achievement of the SDGs. As the world’s largest corporate sustainability and reporting organizations, collectively, we work with many thousands of businesses,” said GRI’s Deputy Chief Executive Teresa Fogelberg. “Our renewed partnership, focused on the SDGs, will help these companies report against the global goals, leveraging UNGC Communications on Progress and GRI’s reporting framework, with which they are already familiar. This will decrease the burden on these businesses, empowering them to act to make the achievement of the SDGs a reality.”   Both GRI and the UN Global Compact will tap into their respective networks to create multi-stakeholder working groups including leading businesses, reporting experts and data users, who will work to shape corporate reporting on the SDGs. The two organizations will also collaborate with Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), to increase the value of corporate sustainability disclosures for the financial community, as well as with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), with whom GRI and UN Global Compact produced the SDG Compass, a guide for companies on how they can align their strategies to the SDGs, while measuring and managing their contributions to the realization of the goals. GRI and UN Global Compact also plan to focus specifically on facilitating SDG-reporting by small and medium-size enterprises, as they represent around 90% of global economic activity.
 
The announcement of this new facet of the longstanding partnership between GRI and the UN Global Compact comes just before the impending release of the next stage in the evolution of GRI’s reporting framework: GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards). GRI Standards will be the first global standard for sustainability reporting. The transition from guidance to a full-fledged standard means GRI’s reporting framework will be even more appropriate for businesses to use in the context of the SDGs. The launch of SDG Leadership through Reporting will take place as part of the event, Leading the Way in the SDG Era: Connecting Global Business, part of the UN Private Sector Forum, which will welcome more than 350 chief executives, heads of government and civil society leaders to the United Nations to discuss the role of business in advancing sustainable development.   For more information about today’s announcements please see the UN Global Compact press release. For information about GRI and the UN Global Compact’s upcoming work on SDG-reporting please contact GRI Media Relations Manager Davion Ford at ford@globalreporting.org   About GRI
GRI is an international independent organization that has pioneered corporate sustainability reporting since 1997. GRI helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate the impact of business on critical sustainability issues such as climate change, human rights, corruption and many others. With thousands of reporters in over 90 countries, GRI provides the world’s most trusted and widely used standards on sustainability reporting, enabling organizations and their stakeholders to make better decisions based on information that matters. Currently, 40 countries and regions reference GRI in their policies. GRI is built upon a unique multi-stakeholder principle, which ensures the participation and expertise of diverse stakeholders in the development of its standards. GRI’s mission is to empower decision-makers everywhere, through its standards and multi-stakeholder network, to take action towards a more sustainable economy and world.