“More large firms are using GRI in sustainability reporting”

According to a survey conducted by accounting firm KPMG, four of the world’s five largest companies use the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in their sustainability reports.

In its report released on October 26, 78 percent of the 250 global companies (G250) use the GRI standard in their sustainability reporting, up from 73 percent in the previous survey in 2020.

Meanwhile, about 68 percent of the larger pool of top 100 businesses (N100) in each of the 58 countries use the GRI, compared to 67 percent last year when the sample size was smaller.

GRI offers the only reporting standards used by the majority of surveyed companies across all regions: 75% in the Americas, 68% in Asia Pacific and Europe, and 62% in the Middle East and Africa.

“As more companies adhere to generally accepted reporting standards to ensure transparency of their impact, this major study by KPMG provides grounds for encouragement. If there was any doubt, it is now clear that comparable sustainability reporting is widespread across countries and sectors and is here to stay,” said Elko van der Enden, CEO of GRI.

Overall, 96 percent of the G250, unchanged from 2020, and 79 percent of the N100, up from 77 percent in 2020, report sustainability or ESG (environmental, social and governance).

Carbon reductions are widely disclosed at 80 percent of G250 and 71 percent of N100, but less than half report biodiversity, according to the study.

Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed report on the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

“The survey does not yet reflect new developments in corporate reporting, including new sustainability standards from the IFRS Foundation and the European Union. I can assure GRI journalists that we are playing an important bridging role in both of these initiatives, highlighting the growing relevance of our standards,” Enden said.

“The revised GRI standard for biodiversity, which will be launched in 2023, will be key to increasing reporting on this important topic, which goes hand in hand with efforts to combat climate change.”