GRI and IFRS deepen interoperability of sustainability reporting
Last week the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the IFRS Foundation announced an enhanced collaboration aimed at creating full interoperability between GRI and ISSB standards. Building on their 2022 Memorandum of Understanding, this partnership seeks to streamline sustainability reporting for companies, benefiting both investors and a broader range of stakeholders.
The collaboration will optimise the use of GRI and ISSB standards together, focusing on the seamless reporting of an organisation’s impacts, risks, and opportunities. The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) will work jointly to align common disclosures, starting with a pilot project on biodiversity. This initiative aims to integrate thematic and sector-based standards, providing a unified reporting framework.
Historically, the IFRS Foundation and GRI have led parallel efforts to enhance transparency and comparability in sustainability reporting. By consolidating their strengths, they aim to reduce duplication and complexity in the sustainability disclosure landscape. The joint working between the ISSB and GSSB will enhance the quality of sustainability information, addressing both investor needs and broader stakeholder requirements.
Ensuring integration between GRI and ISSB standards will support more robust and comparable sustainability reporting. It is key that sustainability standards setters and policy makers continue to close the interoperability loop – and that steps are taken to ensure that the XBRL taxonomies that represent sustainability standards globally are also interoperable, ensuring harmonisation at all levels. Failing to do so will impact most preparers and all users, undermining the goal of seamless, high-quality sustainability reporting.
For more details on this collaborative effort, read the full announcement here.
