Better GRI reporting standards would help companies avert costly disasters.
By Sanford Lewis
As many readers know, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the leading standard for corporate sustainability reports, developed through collaboration of NGOs, investors, companies and other stakeholders. About 2,000 companies currently issue reports referencing the GRI’s guidelines. Through June 30 of this year, GRI is inviting suggestions of new topics to be addressed in the next round of revision of its guidelines.
To this author, the key question is how GRI can remain relevant in light of recent environmental disasters in the Gulf of Mexico and Fukushima. What role, if any, can sustainability reports play in anticipating and preventing the worst forms of corporate destruction of our planet? Is sustainability reporting regarding catastrophic risk only reactive, or is it anticipatory?
