ABSTRACT
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has pioneered sustainability reporting, providing guidelines that serve as a framework for economic, social and environmental reporting. The mission of GRI is ‘to elevate the quality of reporting to a higher level of comparability, consistency and utility. In 1997, the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies, in collaboration with the Tellus Institute, convened the GRI. GRI launched the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, and a fully revised and updated version was released in September 2002 during the World Summit on Sustainable Development. There are 313 companies in 31 countries that issue GRI reports, earning them the title ‘GRI Reporters’. GRI encourages the use of the GRI Guidelines by all organisations, regardless of their experience in preparing sustainability reports. The Guidelines are structured so that all organisations, from beginners to sophisticated reporters, can readily find a comfortable place along a continuum of options. Recognising these varying levels of experience, GRI provides ample flexibility in how organisations use the Guidelines.
