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Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards: The Global Framework for Measuring Organizational Impact

Onye Dike
Onye Dike
Updated on October 25th, 2025
3 min read
Published Oct 24, 25

Summary

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards provide organizations worldwide with a modular framework to report their environmental, social and governance impacts. Along with environment/climate topics like emissions (GRI 305: Emissions), energy, water-use, materials, biodiversity and waste, the system also spans social and governance issues, enabling companies to publish comparable, credible sustainability disclosures aligned with multi-stakeholder expectations.
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Details

Jurisdictions
  • Global
Voluntary for

GRI is designed for global application across all sectors. It can be used by any organization (large or small, public or private, in any location) to report impacts on the economy, environment, and people.

Deep dive

Overview

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), founded in 1997, provides the world’s most widely used standards for reporting an organization’s impacts on the economy, environment and people. GRI’s Standards are set through a public-interest due process by the independent Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB). Unlike investor-focused rules (e.g., ISSB), GRI centers impact materiality (i.e. what the organization does to the world) via a modular system: Universal (for everyone), Sector (industry-specific) and Topic Standards. On the environmental side, GRI spans climate and energy, emissions, water, biodiversity, materials and waste. In 2025 GRI approved new Topic Standards—GRI 102: Climate Change (2025) and GRI 103: Energy (2025)—that take effect for reports published on/after 1 Jan 2027, updating and consolidating climate-related requirements. At the same time, GRI continues to cover social (e.g., labor, human rights) and governance topics through other Topic and Universal Standards, creating a complete, impact-based system.

Under GRI 3 (Material Topics), determine if environmental topics are material and then report your management approach (GRI 3-3) plus Topic-specific disclosures. Climate and energy are now led by:

  • GRI 102: Climate Change (2025) – transition plans, just transition aspects, Scope 1, 2, 3 (migrated from 305-1–305-5), intensity, removals and carbon credits; effective 2027.

  • GRI 103: Energy (2025) – organizational and value-chain energy use, self-generation and energy intensity; effective 2027.

Other environmental Topics remain essential: Materials (301), Water & Effluents (303), Biodiversity (304), Waste (306). GRI 305: Emissions (2016) continues to cover ozone-depleting substances (305-6) and NOx/SOx/other significant air emissions (305-7), while climate-GHG disclosures moved to GRI 102. Also note: Environmental Compliance (old 307) is now GRI 2-27 in the Universal Standards. Together, these deliver comparable, decision-useful environmental data alongside narrative on management and impacts.

Current Status and Outlook

GRI is used globally by listed companies, SOEs and private firms across sectors. Adoption among large companies is dominant. KPMG’s 2022 survey found GRI used by 77% of the G250 and 68% of the N100; KPMG 2024 shows use rising to 71% of the N100 (77% G250). With GRI 102 (Climate Change) and GRI 103 (Energy) approved for 2027 reporting, climate and energy disclosures are more comprehensive and aligned with authoritative guidance (e.g., science-based targets, just transition). Sector Standards are being aligned to the new Topics, reducing duplication and clarifying what’s expected in high-impact industries. Users can expect continued interoperability work with investor-led frameworks, plus method refinements as data and policy evolve. For now, organizations can keep using existing Topic Standards (e.g., 301, 303, 304, 305-6/7, 306) under the 2021 Universal Standards until the 2027 effective date for the new climate/energy Standards.

Resources

Onye Dike
Written by:
Onye Dike
Sustainability Research Analyst
Onye Dike is a Sustainability Research Analyst at Net Zero Compare, where he contributes to research and analysis on environmental regulations, carbon accounting, and emerging sustainability trends.