The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) launched the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards), the first global standards for sustainability reporting, which aim to become the foundation for future reporting.

The new Standards will replace the GRI G4 Guidelines, as they are primarily designed to be used as an integrated set, in order to develop a sustainability report emphasising the most material topics of an organisation, as well as provide more accurate information about economic, environmental and social impacts. The GRI Standards are based on the content from the G4 Guidelines and feature the following main changes and improvements:

• Principles: The Reporting Principles for defining Report Content and Report Quality remain the same.
• Approach: The GRI Standards feature a new modular and interrelated approach, for a more flexible structure in terms of updating the modules separately when required.
• Structure: The GRI Standards are divided into the Universal Standards (which include three universal Standards - Foundation, General Disclosures and Management Approach) and the Topic-Specific Standards (which include three series - Economic topics, Environmental topics and Social topics).
• Format: The new format has clearer requirements, with mandatory requirements and recommendations clearly indicated with ‘shall’ and ‘should’ wording.
• Simplicity: The GRI Standards feature simplified and more homogeneous language for greater clarity.
• Clarifications: Key concepts and Disclosures from G4 are clarified to improve understanding and application of the Standards (such as how to define the Topic Boundary and how to report on Topics not covered by the GRI Standards).
• Materiality: Clarifications have been made to important concepts of the Materiality principle, such as definition of impacts related to materiality and identification of Material Topics.
• Content: Some Disclosures and Topics (the former ‘Aspects’) from G4 are merged or integrated into other sections.
• Report Development: An organization is required to use the three Standards in the Universal series and only the Topic-Specific Standards that relate to the Material Topics identified.
• Use of Standards: There are two basic approaches to use the GRI Standards: use as a set to develop a report in accordance with the Standards and use selected Standards or parts of their content. For each of these approaches, there is a corresponding claim or statement of use, which organisations are required to include in their reports or published materials with disclosures based on the Standards.
• "In accordance with" options: The two options to prepare a report in accordance with the GRI Standards (Core and Comprehensive) remain the same. However, there have been some changes due to the new format and structure, such as use of a specific claim in a report with disclosures based on the GRI Standards and use of the modified set of General Disclosures to report contextual information about an organisation and its sustainability reporting practices.
• Partial Use of Standards: An organization can use selected Standards or parts of their content according to its specific reporting needs, in order to report specific information, without preparing a report in accordance with the Standards. This option is referred to as "GRI-referenced" claim.
• Transparency: An organisation is required to notify GRI when it makes an "in accordance with" claim in any report or published materials.
• Services: GRI will start offering the GRI Materiality Disclosures Service and the Content Index Service based on the GRI Standards from October 2016 onwards.
• Transition: The GRI Standards will be effective for reports published on or after 1 July 2018. The G4 Guidelines will remain valid until then.

Within this context, GRI has launched the Standards Pioneers Program, where STREAM participates along with 55 other organizations from all over the world (such as Nike, Bloomberg, Telekom Italia, Roche), in order to ensure a common ground transition from G4 Guidelines to GRI Standards.

In case you have any queries on the new GRI Standards, please contact us or visit the respective link.