Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
GRI provides the world’s most widely adopted standards for sustainability reporting, revolving around universal and sector-specific ESG indicators.
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)
SASB reporting focuses on financially material aspects of sustainability using an industry-based approach to key performance indicators.
Fundamentals of ESG Reporting Process
While reporting frameworks provide helpful structure, effectively disclosing ESG performance depends on strategic execution:
1. Issue Prioritization
Through stakeholder assessments and analysis, assess organizational context to define priority ESG topics, risks, and opportunities specific to your operating environment.
2. Data Systems
Construct infrastructure to gather qualitative and quantitative inputs across prioritized dimensions from enterprise data systems. Supplement through value chain surveys.
3. Impact Measurement
Leverage selected reporting framework guidance to set KPIs monitoring topical performance and broader sustainable development impacts aligned to global goals like the UN SDGs.
4. Channels
With reliable measurement established, determine optimal formats and platforms to keep stakeholders continuously informed from investor presentations and annual reports to employee dashboards and product labeling.
5. Improvement
Regularly reviewing performance gaps and emerging stakeholder expectations allows for continually refining the reporting scope, depth, and communication as disclosure processes mature across the organization.
