GRI Launches Climate And Energy Reporting Standards

As a pioneering move to drive corporate accountability and climate action, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has published two new guidelines for sustainability reporting—GRI 102: Climate Change and GRI 103: Energy. Published during London Climate Action Week, these guidelines aim to align business disclosures with global climate action, and address human and environmental impacts of climate change.

GRI 102 and 103 releases are a milestone in the development of sustainability reporting by integrating science-based climate metrics with social considerations on a global basis. The standards vow more transparent and efficient climate and energy disclosure, hoping to empower companies, investors, regulators, and civil society with decision-relevant information.

Robin Hodess, GRI Chief Executive, spoke of the broad scope of the new standards and continued, "These new GRI Standards are distinctive in integrating the human and environmental aspects of climate change. They will provide transparency and action on climate and energy effects that underpin decision-making by companies, regulators, investors and other stakeholders."

GRI 102: Climate Change is designed to facilitate science-based emissions reduction as an integral part of business mitigation activity. It establishes strong disclosure standards, making sure that organizations disclose in accordance with universal climate goals. Importantly, GRI 102 transcends emissions reporting to include indicators for a 'just transition'—emphasizing the social and economic implications of climate action for employees, local communities, and Indigenous Peoples. This emphasis responds to the increasing demand for socially responsible, fair, and inclusive climate action

Conversely, GRI 103: Energy offers an overall perspective of how companies manage energy resources. It records information on renewable and non-renewable energy sources, considers decarbonization actions, and considers energy efficiency performance. The standard puts responsible energy management not only as an operation goal but also as a strategic pillar to any effective climate strategy. By bringing attention to transparency regarding energy consumption and transition strategy, GRI 103 compels businesses to consider their place in the worldwide decarbonization phenomenon.

It is what distinguishes these standards from the others that they are aligned to best-practice global frameworks. GRI 102 and 103, for instance, have been crafted to be consistent with the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and the IFRS S2 climate disclosure standard, which has been recently endorsed. By doing this, companies can integrate their climate-related reporting with financial reporting, resulting in more integrated and credible sustainability stories. To investors, this integration provides a better understanding of climate opportunities and risks in company portfolios.

Carol Adams, Chair of GSSB, noted the significance of this milestone. "GRI 102 and 103 enable companies to publish on their impacts of climate change in a complete and comparable way, including impacts from transition and adaptation measures. It is fundamental to constructing a global system of climate reporting that is comprehensive and operational," she said.

The timing of these new standards is critical. With climate risks escalating, governments and financial institutions are increasingly prioritizing transparent climate action. At the same time, the private sector is under pressure to demonstrate alignment with international climate commitments, such as the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By providing a unified framework for disclosure, GRI’s latest standards aim to bridge the gap between sustainability commitments and measurable outcomes.

Moreover, prioritizing 'just transition' indicators is an indicator of increasing concern for the social aspects of climate change. Shifting to a low-carbon economy entails radical change in industries, labour markets, and communities. GRI 102 aims to remedy this by insisting on organisations disclosing the impact of their climate policy on different stakeholders—such that climate success does not come at the cost of social justice.

To businesses, they are a compass and a catalyst. They create an open avenue for businesses to report their performance on climate, determine opportunities to improve, and engage with stakeholders based on true facts. By connecting with global tools in that manner, the standards minimize the complexity of reporting and maximize consistency in markets.

The GRI Standards can be found in the public domain and are to be adopted by companies worldwide, particularly those companies looking to enhance the transparency and accountability of their sustainability reporting. Release occurs at a time GRI is launching a machine-readable taxonomy, designed to simplify data collection and improve comparability of global sustainability reporting.

With climate and energy issues increasingly at the heart of business decision-making, the publication of GRI 102 and 103 provides companies with the authority to command an increasingly dynamic reporting environment. These standards are more than expanding disclosure—now, they establish a new standard for corporate climate leadership, gateways to informed decision-making, just transitions, and climate action.