News Round-Up – Reactions to GRI G4 Guidelines

An update to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3.1 sustainability reporting guidelines was recently announced at the world’s biggest conference on sustainability reporting.  Founded in 1997, GRI is a non-profit organisation aiming to promote and harmonise sustainability reporting globally through the provision of standards, which are now used by over 11,000 companies worldwide.  GRI claims that their new G4 guidelines have increased user-friendliness and accessibility - but does everyone agree with them?

Greenwashing always backfires in the end

Credit: newclearvision.com

This blog often comments on developments in sustainability communications and there have been a number of interesting developments recently.

In principle, we all agree that Sustainability Reporting combines information about an organisation’s economic, environmental and social performance.  It gets more tricky when we try to agree on the definition of terms and come to a consensus on reporting standards.  GRI standards are treated as the norm in industry but until now, no governmental or EU standards are in place.

Will Rio+20 Push Companies Towards Sustainability Reporting?

Source: Rio+20

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Coalition (CSRC), an organisation coalition convened by Aviva, is urging UN member states at the June Rio+20 to develop and commit to a global policy framework for sustainability reporting.  This position was reinforced on Wednesday at the debate 'Can companies be more sustainable? An opportunity for change at Rio+20' at the European Parliament, hosted by Parliament Magazine.