While SASB focuses on what matters to investors, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines what matters to society.
The GRI Standards form the most widely used global framework for sustainability and ESG reporting. They guide organizations in disclosing their environmental, social, and governance impacts — not just the ones that affect financial performance, but those that shape communities, labor practices, supply chains, and ecosystems.
GRI’s purpose is simple yet profound: to make corporate sustainability transparent and comparable. Where SASB measures financial materiality, GRI captures impact materiality—how a company’s operations affect the world around it.
In the context of IT asset disposition (ITAD) and electronics recycling, GRI-aligned reporting might include metrics on e-waste volumes processed, hazardous material management, worker health and safety, or community recycling partnerships. These disclosures help companies demonstrate not only compliance, but also social responsibility and circular-economy leadership.
Together, SASB and GRI form the dual language of sustainability: one speaks to investors, the other to society. Firms that master both will define the next era of credible, data-driven ESG communication.
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) #
– Full Name: Global Reporting Initiative
– Country of Origin: Netherlands
– Founded: 1997
– Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands
– Legal Status: Independent international nonprofit foundation (registered under Dutch law)
– Purpose: To provide a comprehensive global framework for sustainability and ESG reporting, enabling organizations to disclose their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impacts in a consistent and comparable manner.
– Focus: Impact materiality — measuring how a company’s activities affect society, the environment, and the economy, regardless of direct financial consequences.
– Users: Corporations, governments, and NGOs worldwide; GRI standards are the most widely adopted ESG reporting framework globally.
– Key Framework: GRI Standards, including sector-specific and universal standards for sustainability disclosures.
– Governance: Overseen by the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), which operates independently to develop and maintain the standards.
–Official Website: https://www.globalreporting.org
