Updated GRI Standards: What Are the Implications for Materiality?

Last October, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) announced the biggest update of its standards since 2016. Beyond legal requirements, the GRI has been identified as one of the most comprehensive and internationally recognized sustainability standards setter for corporate reporting. Scheduled to be applicable by 2023, these changes require companies to increase their level of transparency and to dedicate further resources into non-financial reporting. One of the key updates is the introduction of sector standards, providing additional guidelines for comparability of companies from the same industries. Another important change in the GRI Universal Standards is the revised approach on how organization should conduct their materiality assessment. This article focuses on the proposed changes and what it means for companies which have selected the GRI Standards as their ESG reporting framework.

How to Strengthen ESG Reporting with the Updated GRI Standards

In the corporate world, sustainability reporting requirements are continuously increasing through national and international directives. In the EU, the upcoming Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will impact the reporting guidelines of a large number of European companies. Beyond legal requirements, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) have been identified as the most comprehensive and internationally recognized sustainability standards setters for corporate reporting. At the end of 2020, GRI counted more than 38,000 GRI reports from organizations, including 73% of the world's 250 largest companies.

Job Alert: Community Manager (B2B)

Finch & Beak is a leading European consulting firm in the field of strategy and sustainability. Over the past 20 years, we have worked with more than 150 corporate clients across Europe, trained over 5000 managers, and worked with top-level business schools from around the world. To help Finch & Beak’s fast-growing client portfolio with their sustainability performance, we are expanding with a Community Manager (B2B).

ESG Acceleration Webinar: Forward-Looking Materiality

During this webinar, we explored how to apply the materiality assessment as a tool to capture (emerging) ESG risks and opportunities, as a driver for future strategy and risk mitigation, and how to align materiality with enterprise risk management. Special guest speaker was Suzanne Westlake, Head of Corporate Responsibility & Corporate Affairs at Ocado Group.

ESG Equity Stories - Free Checklist Download

ESG Equity Stories: Be Good & Tell It

As investors increasingly integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria in their decision making processes, companies need to cater to this information need. Developing and transmitting a clear ESG Equity Story is key in this: communicating about the firm’s ESG approach and performance in a coherent and transparent manner toward investor audiences. Finch & Beak has assembled a pilot benchmark as a probe for the current status quo, assessing 21 companies’ sustainability programs (‘Be Good’) and their ESG Equity Stories (‘Tell It’). A striking finding is that companies appear to engage in ESG ‘greywashing’ (antonym of greenwashing), by underleveraging their ESG performance in the communication towards investor audiences.

ESG Acceleration Webinar: Effective ESG Equity Stories

During this webinar, we'll share the key findings from Finch & Beak’s ESG Equity Stories benchmark, which explores the state of how companies proactively communicate their ESG approach to investor audiences. The outcomes are complemented with an investor's perspective on effective ESG engagement between companies and capital markets coming from guest speaker Adrie Heinsbroek, Principal Responsible Investment at NN Investment Partners.

ESG Acceleration Webinar: Building Effective ESG Equity Stories

Momentum on ESG in the capital markets continues to soar. Companies have a powerful opportunity to pro-actively tell their ESG equity story to their shareholders, and chances are you are underleveraging your own IR-platforms in doing so. During this 1-hour webinar, we'll dive deeper in the key elements of an ESG equity story and share key take-aways and best practices from our recent benchmark study. Moreover, guest speaker Isabel Green, Head of Investor Relations at Rolls-Royce, will give her practical insights on effectively communicating on ESG with the investor community.

Start of the IMD Winning Sustainability Strategies Online Program

Following the publication of the book Winning Sustainability Strategies, IMD Lausanne is launching an online program aimed at business executives, strategy practitioners and sustainability professionals who are interested in the business case for sustainability and its strategic implications. Facilitated by the authors Jan van der Kaaij, Managing Partner of Finch & Beak, and IMD professor Benoit Leleux, the program starts on 21 September 2020 and is designed to help integrate sustainability in your strategy so you can maintain your competitive edge.

Sustainability Communication with Impact

Great sustainability communicators infuse their purpose into everything that they do, and they make it easy for everyone to understand what they stand for. As a result, they have more loyal customers, happy employees and trust from investors.