The Global Reporting Initiative (known as GRI) developed by the Global Sustainability Standards

Board (GSSB) is an international independent standards organization that helps businesses,

governments and other organizations understand and communicate their impacts on issues such as
climate change, human rights and corruption.

Sustainability reporting is a key tool to help an organization in setting goals, measuring progress and
managing sustainability. Reporting on organization’s sustainability performance will give internal and
external stakeholders a clear idea of its impact and can increase efficiency and improve performance.
Companies may report on sustainability issues in a number of ways such as in their corporate
websites, integrated with annual financial reporting or may produce stand-alone sustainability reports.

Under increasing pressure from different stakeholder groups – such as governments, consumers and
investors – to be more transparent about their environmental, economic and social impacts, many
companies publish a sustainability report, also known as a corporate social responsibility (CSR) or
environmental, social and governance (ESG) report. GRI’s framework for sustainability reporting
helps companies identify, gather and report this information in a clear and comparable manner.

First launched in 2000, GRI’s sustainability reporting framework is now the most widely used by
multinational organizations, governments, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), NGOs and industry
groups in more than 90 countries. In 2017, 63 percent of the largest 100 companies (N100), and 75
percent of the Global Fortune 250 (G250) reported applying the GRI reporting framework.

The GRI-G4 performance disclosure indicators are organized into:

i) Economic: Disclosures on economic value generated and distributed, revenues, and
infrastructure investments;
ii) Environmental: Disclosures on impact on water, emissions, effluents, waste, biodiversity, and
compliance with environmental laws; and
iii) Social: Disclosures on human rights, labor practices, benefits, training, education, health, safety,
diversity, equal opportunity, procurement practices with regard to anti-corruption and anti-trust
practice, product responsibility, customer privacy and satisfaction etc.

History
The GRI was formed by the United States-based non-profits Ceres (formerly the Coalition for
Environmentally Responsible Economies) and Tellus Institute, with the support of the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1997. It released an "exposure draft" version of the
Sustainability Reporting Guidelines in 1999, the first full version in 2000, the second version was
released at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg—where the organization
and the guidelines were also referred to in the Plan of Implementation signed by all attending member
states.

The third versions, known as G3 published in 2006 and were updated to G3.1, expanding guidance on
local community aspects, human rights and gender in 2011. Again, in 2010 GRI launched its fourth
generation guideline known as G4. Recently in October 2016, GRI published new version known as
GRI Standards which will be effective after July 2018 (GRI, 2017).

ESG metrics
Figure: Examples of a company's internal and external stakeholders.

Sustainability reporting aims to standardize and quantify the environmental, social and governance
costs and benefits derived from the activities of the reporting companies accordingly. Some of the
examples of the reporting measures to be used would be the quantified results of the CO2 emissions,
working and payment conditions, financial transparency and alike.

For the assessment of the social impact created by the reporting organization, GRI standards were
created according to international labor practices and the environmental impact by conducting an
independent audit. ISO 14010, ISO 14011, ISO 14012 and ISO 26000 set out a standard for assessing
the environmental impact, while OHSAS 18001 lays down a health and safety risk management
system.

GRI in Bangladesh:
The concept of sustainability is still very new in Bangladesh. Recently various agencies are creating
considerable pressure on companies to act responsibly and be responsible for the impacts they have on
social, political and ecological environments. With a view to integrate
sustainability, Bangladesh Bank (the central bank of Bangladesh) issued guidelines on
‘Environmental Risk Management’ (ERM) in 2011 which is updated on February 2017 titled
as ‘Environmental & Social Risk Management (ESRM) for Banks and Financial Institutions
in Bangladesh’. There is no guideline for other sectors except some laws for textile and
chemical companies to ensure Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) for their operations (Hussain,
Rowe and Quddus, 2012).

The study of Sobhan, Amran and Zainuddin (2009) reveals that all companies disclosed at least one
item related to HR followed by Community involvement by (47%), consumer (23%), environment
(19%), and others (18%). Although 91% made disclosures in at least one
category, the level of environmental and climate change disclosures was very low.
Hossain et al. (2012) found that organizations in Bangladesh disclose more on community
and pay limited attention to workplace/HR disclosure and environment. The banking and
financial companies disclose more on social and environmental issues with compare to other
sector organizations because of institutional pressure from central bank. They are also
showing an emphasis on sustainability disclosure and being accountable to internal and
external stakeholders for their action regarding governance, economic, environmental and
social aspects including both positive and negative contributions, but still it is not satisfactory
(Mahmud et al. 2017).

Standards under GRI

• GRI 101: Foundation 2016
• GRI 102: General Disclosures 2016
• GRI 103: Management Approach 2016
• GRI 201: Economic Performance 2016
• GRI 202: Market Presence 2016
• GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts 2016
• GRI 204: Procurement Practices 2016
• GRI 205: Anti-corruption 2016
• GRI 206: Anti-competitive Behavior 2016
• GRI 207: Tax 2019
• GRI 301: Materials 2016
• GRI 302: Energy 2016
• GRI 303: Water and Effluents 2018
• GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016
• GRI 305: Emissions 2016
• GRI 306: Waste 2020
• GRI 307: Environmental Compliance 2016
• GRI 308: Supplier Environmental Assessment 2016
• GRI 401: Employment 2016
• GRI 402: Labor/Management Relations 2016
• GRI 403: Occupational Health and Safety 2018
• GRI 404: Training and Education 2016
• GRI 405: Diversity and Equal Opportunity 2016
• GRI 406: Non-discrimination 2016
• GRI 407: Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining 2016
• GRI 408: Child Labor 2016
• GRI 409: Forced or Compulsory Labor 2016
• GRI 410: Security Practices 2016
• GRI 411: Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2016
• GRI 412: Human Rights Assessment 2016
• GRI 413: Local Communities 2016
• GRI 414: Supplier Social Assessment 2016
• GRI 415: Public Policy 2016
• GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety 2016
• GRI 417: Marketing and Labeling 2016
• GRI 418: Customer Privacy 2016
• GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance 2016

The 100 series includes three universal Standards:

GRI 101: Foundation is the starting point for using the set of GRI Standards. GRI 101 sets out the
Reporting Principles for defining report content and quality. It includes requirements for preparing a
sustainability report in accordance with the GRI Standards, and describes how the GRI Standards can
be used and referenced. GRI 101 also includes the specific claims that are required for organizations
preparing a sustainability report in accordance with the Standards, and for those using selected GRI
Standards to report specific information.
GRI 102: General Disclosures is used to report contextual information about an organization and its
sustainability reporting practices. This includes information about an organization’s profile, strategy,
ethics and integrity, governance, stakeholder engagement practices, and reporting process.
GRI 103: Management Approach is used to report information about how an organization manages a
material topic. It is designed to be used for each material topic in a sustainability report, including
those covered by the topic specific GRI Standards (series 200, 300, and 400) and other material
topics. Applying GRI 103 with each material topic allows the organization to provide a narrative
explanation of why the topic is material, where the impacts occur (the topic Boundary), and how the
organization manages the impacts.

A. Economic (1-7)
1) GRI 201: Economic Performance
1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed
Disclosure 201-2 Financial implications and other risks and opportunities due to climate change
Disclosure 201-3 Defined benefit plan obligations and other retirement plans
Disclosure 201-4 Financial assistance received from government

2) GRI 202: Market Presence

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 202-1 Ratios of standard entry level wage by gender compared to
local minimum wage
Disclosure 202-2 Proportion of senior management hired from the local community

3) GRI 203: Indirect Economic Impacts

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 203-1 Infrastructure investments and services supported
Disclosure 203-2 Significant indirect economic impacts

4) GRI 204: Procurement Practices

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 204-1 Proportion of spending on local suppliers

5) GRI 205: Anti-corruption

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 205-1 Operations assessed for risks related to corruption
Disclosure 205-2 Communication and training about anti-corruption policies and procedures
Disclosure 205-3 Confirmed incidents of corruption and actions taken

6) GRI 206: Anti-competitive Behavior

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 206-1 Legal actions for anti-competitive behavior, anti-trust, and monopoly practices

7) GRI 207: Tax

1. Management approach disclosures
Disclosure 207-1 Approach to tax
Disclosure 207-2 Tax governance, control, and risk management
Disclosure 207-3 Stakeholder engagement and management of concerns related to tax
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 207-4 Country-by-country reporting

B. Social (8-15)
8) GRI 301: Materials
1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 301-1 Materials used by weight or volume
Disclosure 301-2 Recycled input materials used
Disclosure 301-3 Reclaimed products and their packaging materials
9) GRI 302: Energy
1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 302-1 Energy consumption within the organization
Disclosure 302-2 Energy consumption outside of the organization
Disclosure 302-3 Energy intensity
Disclosure 302-4 Reduction of energy consumption
Disclosure 302-5 Reductions in energy requirements of products and services

10) GRI 303: Water and Effluents

1. Management approach disclosures
Disclosure 303-1 Interactions with water as a shared resource
Disclosure 303-2 Management of water discharge-related impacts
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 303-3 Water withdrawal
Disclosure 303-4 Water discharge
Disclosure 303-5 Water consumption
Table 1. Example template for presenting information for Disclosures 303-3, 303-4, and 303-5
Table 2. Example template for presenting facility-level information
Table 3. Example template for presenting supply chain information

11) GRI 304: Biodiversity

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 304-1 Operational sites owned, leased, managed in, or adjacent to, protected areas and
areas of high biodiversity value outside protected areas
Disclosure 304-2 Significant impacts of activities, products, and services on biodiversity
Disclosure 304-3 Habitats protected or restored
Disclosure 304-4 IUCN Red List species and national conservation list species
with habitats in areas affected by operations
12) GRI 305: Emissions
1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 305-1 Direct (Scope 1) GHG emissions
Disclosure 305-2 Energy indirect (Scope 2) GHG emissions
Disclosure 305-3 Other indirect (Scope 3) GHG emissions 11
Disclosure 305-4 GHG emissions intensity
Disclosure 305-5 Reduction of GHG emissions
Disclosure 305-6 Emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODS)
Disclosure 305-7 Nitrogen oxides (NOX), sulfur oxides (SOX), and other
significant air emissions

13) GRI 306: Waste

1. Management approach disclosures
Disclosure 306-1 Waste generation and significant waste-related impacts
Disclosure 306-2 Management of significant waste-related impacts
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 306-3 Waste generated
Disclosure 306-4 Waste diverted from disposal
Disclosure 306-5 Waste directed to disposal

14) GRI 307: Environmental Compliance

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 307-1 Non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations

15) GRI 308: Supplier Environmental Assessment

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 308-1 New suppliers that were screened using environmental criteria
Disclosure 308-2 Negative environmental impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

C. Environmental (16-34)
16) GRI 401: Employment
1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 401-1 New employee hires and employee turnover
Disclosure 401-2 Benefits provided to full-time employees that are not provided to temporary or part-
time employees
Disclosure 401-3 Parental leave

17) GRI 402: Labor/Management Relations

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 402-1 Minimum notice periods regarding operational changes

18) GRI 403: Occupational Health and Safety

1. Management approach disclosures
Disclosure 403-1 Occupational health and safety management system
Disclosure 403-2 Hazard identification, risk assessment, and incident investigation
Disclosure 403-3 Occupational health services
Disclosure 403-4 Worker participation, consultation, and communication o occupational health and
safety
Disclosure 403-5 Worker training on occupational health and safety
Disclosure 403-6 Promotion of worker health
Disclosure 403-7 Prevention and mitigation of occupational health and safety
impacts directly linked by business relationships
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 403-8 Workers covered by an occupational health and safety management system
Disclosure 403-9 Work-related injuries
Disclosure 403-10 Work-related ill health

19) GRI 404: Training and Education

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 404-1 Average hours of training per year per employee
Disclosure 404-2 Programs for upgrading employee skills and transition assistance programs
Disclosure 404-3 Percentage of employees receiving regular performance and career development
reviews

20) GRI 405: Diversity and Equal Opportunity

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 405-1 Diversity of governance bodies and employees
Disclosure 405-2 Ratio of basic salary and remuneration of women to men

21) GRI 406: Non-discrimination

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 406-1 Incidents of discrimination and corrective actions taken

22) GRI 407: Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 407-1 Operations and suppliers in which the right to freedom of association and collective
bargaining may be at risk

23) GRI 408: Child Labor

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 408-1 Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of child labor

24) GRI 409: Forced or Compulsory Labor

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 409-1 Operations and suppliers at significant risk for incidents of forced or compulsory
labor

25) GRI 410: Security Practices

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 410-1 Security personnel trained in human rights policies or procedures

26) GRI 411: Rights of Indigenous Peoples

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 411-1 Incidents of violations involving rights of indigenous peoples

27) GRI 412: Human Rights Assessment

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 412-1 Operations that have been subject to human rights reviews or impact assessments
Disclosure 412-2 Employee training on human rights policies or procedures
Disclosure 412-3 Significant investment agreements and contracts that include human rights clauses
or that underwent human rights screening

28) GRI 413: Local Communities

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 413-1 Operations with local community engagement, impact assessments, and
development programs
Disclosure 413-2 Operations with significant actual and potential negative impacts on local
communities

29) GRI 414: Supplier Social Assessment

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 414-1 New suppliers that were screened using social criteria
Disclosure 414-2 Negative social impacts in the supply chain and actions taken

30) GRI 415: Public Policy

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 415-1 Political contributions

31) GRI 416: Customer Health and Safety

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 416-1 Assessment of the health and safety impacts of product and service categories
Disclosure 416-2 Incidents of non-compliance concerning the health and safety impacts of products
and services

32) GRI 417: Marketing and Labeling

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 417-1 Requirements for product and service information and labelling
Disclosure 417-2 Incidents of non-compliance concerning product and service information and
labelling
Disclosure 417-3 Incidents of non-compliance concerning marketing communications

33) GRI 418: Customer Privacy

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 418-1 Substantiated complaints concerning breaches of customer privacy and losses of
customer data

34) GRI 419: Socioeconomic Compliance

1. Management approach disclosures
2. Topic-specific disclosures
Disclosure 419-1 Non-compliance with laws and regulations in the social and economic area