Joint research from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) explores the experiences of companies that use the two sets of standards together to fulfil their reporting needs.
A Practical Guide to Sustainability Reporting Using GRI and SASB Standards is based on extensive interviews with four global companies: UK-based Diageo, City Developments Limited (CDL) of Singapore, US-headquartered General Motors (GM), and Canada’s Suncor Energy. All four are long-term GRI reporters that now also report with SASB. Their insights are supplemented by survey findings with 132 business representatives around the word.
The publication overviews the similarities and distinctions between the standards – covering materiality, the type and scope of disclosures, audiences and the standard setting process – and indicates how they can be used together to meet the needs of a broad range of users.
Key themes from the research include:
- Each set of standards complements rather than substitutes the other, with GRI supporting broad and comprehensive disclosures on organizational impacts and SASB focusing on a subset of financially material issues
- Using the GRI and SASB Standards together can offer a holistic picture of corporate performance, bringing sustainability and financial information more closely together
- Reporting with GRI and SASB can meet the needs of a broad range of stakeholders, with expanded disclosure to increase user engagement
- Taken together, GRI and SASB Standards offer a company a practical approach to reflect on and disclose their material issues and impacts
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Published by
GRI