According to a recent study conducted by one of the GRI Data Partners, The Governance and Accountability Institute Inc. (G&A), companies that report sustainability issues using GRI framework provide higher quality reports.
The research team compared companies’ disclosures using 11 criteria:
- Chair’s / Executive Message
- Environment
- Philanthropy & Community Involvement
- External Stakeholder Engagement
- Supply Chain
- Labor Relations
- Governance
- Anti-Corruption
- Human Rights
- Codes of Conduct
- Integrity Assurance
From 572 reports 84% were conducted according to the GRI framework.
“The results of this study highlight the reason we promote the use of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards,” explained Tim Mohin, GRI Chief Executive. “The GRI Standards help companies disclose higher quality sustainability information. Higher quality data leads to better decision making by the company, investors and other stakeholders, which can help drive both the bottom line and sustainable development. And that is the whole purpose of sustainability reporting.”
Some of the greatest differences between companies following the GRI reporting framework as opposed to those that did not, were seen in the comprehensiveness and depth of information provided on topics, such as human rights, and in the degree of third-party verification. Reports that did not follow the GRI framework tended to be more narrative and less quantitative.
According to Tim Mohin, the results were encouraging but “…we still have a lot of work to do in order to achieve sustainable development.”
Read the whole article: http://www.accountability-central.com/nc/single-view-default/article/research-results-using-the-gri-sustainability-reporting-framework-improves-the-quality-of-esg-discl/
Photo by Jungwoo Hong on Unsplash
