GRI Standards · Sustainability reporting
GRI reporting consulting for a sustainability report built on your real impacts, with data that survives assurance.
Report in accordance with the GRI Standards with a materiality assessment your board can defend and data an assurance provider can test. Sterling's expert and experienced consultants run the GRI 3 process with your leadership and stakeholders, build the data and evidence, prepare the report and the content index and stay with you until it is published, in 60+ countries. The GRI Standards are a reporting standard, not a certification scheme: there is no certificate to chase, only a report to get right. We ensure successful reporting for our clients.
- Fixed scope, one proposal: consulting, Effivity software, Sterling Academy access and internal auditor training, as applicable to your standard, in one proposal
- A team of expert and experienced sustainability reporting consultants, advising on management systems across sectors and countries since 2003
- The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements. Sterling prepares the report and the evidence; where you commission assurance, the assurance provider examines and decides
8,100+ client engagements in 60+ countries.
GRI client experience
What it is
What are the GRI Standards and what are they used for?
The GRI Standards are the most widely used standards for sustainability reporting. They are issued by the Global Sustainability Standards Board of GRI, an independent, non-profit international organisation founded in Boston in 1997 and headquartered in the Netherlands.
Three features define them. They are written for a broad audience: the impacts that matter to employees, communities, customers and regulators, not only the risks that matter to investors, which the ISSB Standards cover. They are modular: three Universal Standards apply to every reporter, Sector Standards describe the likely material topics of a sector, and Topic Standards carry the disclosures for each topic. And they are a reporting standard, not a certification scheme: a report declares that it is prepared in accordance with, or with reference to, the GRI Standards.
Current edition. The Universal Standards 2021, GRI 1: Foundation, GRI 2: General Disclosures and GRI 3: Material Topics, were published in October 2021 and took effect on 1 January 2023. Four Sector Standards are in force, GRI 11 Oil and Gas, GRI 12 Coal, GRI 13 Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fishing and GRI 14 Mining, each reissued as a V1.1 version aligned with the revised Topic Standards, and in September 2026 GRI approved a streamlined sector format, piloted with food and beverages. Among the Topic Standards, GRI 101: Biodiversity 2024 replaced GRI 304 and applies from 2026; GRI 102: Climate Change 2025 and GRI 103: Energy 2025 apply from January 2027.
Who it is for
Who needs GRI reporting?
The GRI Standards are designed for organisations of any size, sector or geography. Reporting is voluntary in most jurisdictions, yet the request rarely arrives as a choice. Organisations come to Sterling for GRI reporting from four starting points:
- A customer, lender, investor or rating platform is asking for a sustainability report. A tender questionnaire, a bank's covenant, an EcoVadis or CDP request or a parent company's calendar all end in the same demand: a credible report, to a recognised standard, by a date.
- A regulator, stock exchange or reporting directive expects one. Listing rules and securities regulators in a growing number of markets require or recommend sustainability reports and accept the GRI Standards, and groups in scope of the EU's CSRD align their subsidiaries' reporting with the ESRS.
- You have reported with reference to the GRI Standards and want to report in accordance. The first report was a selection of disclosures; the next needs every GRI 2 disclosure, a GRI 3 materiality assessment, the applicable Topic Standards and a content index that will withstand scrutiny.
- The report exists, but nobody would want an assurance provider to test it. Numbers sit in spreadsheets with no evidence trail, material topics were chosen in a meeting, and a due diligence review or an assurance engagement would expose the gap.
The intended outcome is a report that tells the truth about impacts, supported by evidence, and a process that runs every year without a rescue project.
Business benefits
How GRI reporting protects and grows the business
A sustainability report earns its cost when it changes how the organisation is seen and how it decides. We start from the audiences that matter to you and build the report so that each finds the disclosures it needs and can trust them.
- Qualification for the buyers who askAn in-accordance report answers most sustainability questionnaires at source, so tenders, supplier onboarding and rating requests stop being a scramble.
- Impacts managed, not only describedThe GRI 3 process forces a decision on which impacts are most significant and Disclosure 3-3 asks how each is managed, so reporting drives action plans, targets and owners.
- Data the board can rely onEmissions, energy, water, waste, safety and workforce figures collected with definitions, boundaries and evidence, which is what assurance providers, lenders and regulators ask for.
- One report that serves several frameworksThe interoperability work between GRI, the ISSB and EFRAG lets one report feed IFRS S2, the ESRS and rating platforms instead of starting again for each.
- Lower greenwashing and litigation exposureBalanced reporting, reasons for omission stated and restatements explained, so every claim can be traced to evidence when a regulator asks.
- Trust with employees, communities and regulatorsStakeholder engagement built into the process, grievance and remediation mechanisms disclosed, and commitments reported against year after year.
Choose a few measures that reflect these outcomes, such as questionnaires answered from the report without new work or targets met on the material topics. A thicker report is not a business result.
Standards and disclosures
What do the GRI Standards require?
Reporting in accordance with the GRI Standards means meeting the nine requirements of GRI 1: apply the reporting principles, report the disclosures in GRI 2, determine material topics, report the disclosures in GRI 3, report the Topic Standard disclosures for each material topic, give reasons for omission, publish a GRI content index, provide a statement of use and notify GRI. Reporting with reference, for an organisation that cannot yet meet all nine or uses selected standards for a specific purpose, requires only the index, the statement of use and the notification, and cannot be described as in accordance.
| Standard or element | What it requires | What it looks like in practice |
|---|---|---|
| GRI 1 Foundation 2021 | The key concepts (impact, material topics, due diligence, stakeholder), the eight reporting principles (accuracy, balance, clarity, comparability, completeness, sustainability context, timeliness and verifiability) and the nine requirements for in accordance | A recorded leadership decision on the reporting option, entities and period, and a short reporting manual that applies the principles |
| GRI 2 General Disclosures 2021 | Disclosures on the organisation and its reporting practices, including the reporting period and its policy and practice for external assurance (Disclosure 2-5); activities and workers; governance; strategy, policies and practices; and stakeholder engagement | Governance described as it is, policy commitments in writing, grievance mechanisms that exist, and stakeholder engagement that is practised rather than asserted |
| GRI 3 Material Topics 2021 | The process to determine material topics in four steps: understand the organisation's context, identify actual and potential impacts, assess their significance and prioritise the most significant for reporting; then Disclosure 3-1 (the process), 3-2 (the list) and 3-3 (how each topic is managed) | An impact-based materiality assessment with evidence: context review, impact register across operations and the value chain, significance scoring, stakeholder input, and a list approved by leadership |
| Sector Standards GRI 11 to GRI 14 | Required when in accordance and operating in a covered sector: review each likely material topic, report the Topic Standard disclosures listed for it or the not-applicable reason for omission, and list in the content index any sector topic judged not material, with the reason | The sector topics worked through one by one, with reference numbers carried into the content index |
| Topic Standards economic, environmental and social | For each material topic, Disclosure 3-3 plus the topic disclosures of the relevant Standard: the 200 series (economic topics such as anti-corruption and tax), the 300 series (environmental topics such as energy, water, emissions and waste), the 400 series (social topics such as employment, occupational health and safety and local communities) and the revised GRI 101, 102 and 103 | Definitions, boundaries and methods written down for every metric, data collected where it originates, and an evidence file per disclosure |
| Reasons for omission | Where a disclosure or requirement cannot be complied with, one of four permitted reasons is given, with an explanation: not applicable, legal prohibitions, confidentiality constraints or information unavailable or incomplete | Omissions decided early and documented, with a plan to close information gaps before the next cycle |
| GRI content index | A published index containing the statement of use, the titles of the applicable Sector Standards, the list of material topics, every disclosure reported and its location, reasons for omission and the Sector Standard reference numbers | The map an assurance provider follows line by line; prepared with the report, not after it |
| Statement of use | The fixed wording that the organisation has reported in accordance with the GRI Standards for the period, or has reported the information cited in the content index with reference to them | One sentence, checked against what the report actually contains before anyone signs it |
| Notify GRI | Notification of the use of the Standards and the statement of use by e-mail to GRI, at no cost | A step in the publication checklist, with the confirmation filed |
| External assurance | Not required. GRI recommends that reporters seek external assurance from competent, independent providers, and Disclosure 2-5 asks the organisation to describe its policy and practice for seeking it | A decision on whether and at what level to seek assurance, and a report prepared so that assurance under ISSA 5000, ISAE 3000 (Revised) or AA1000AS v3 finds evidence rather than gaps |
What does useful GRI evidence look like?
The materiality assessment with its context review, impact register, scoring and approval; a metric definition sheet for every quantitative disclosure with boundary, method and source; the underlying records, from utility invoices to incident reports; the policies, governance documents and minutes cited in GRI 2; stakeholder engagement records; and the content index with its reasons for omission. We help identify the records your disclosures need, without creating documents to fill folders, and they live in Effivity from the first workshop.
The GRI Standards explained: Universal, Sector and Topic StandardsReporting route
How do you publish a report in accordance with the GRI Standards?
There is no certification body in this route. The report is prepared, published and, if you choose, assured; GRI is notified but does not approve, verify or certify a report. Sterling prepares the report and the evidence with you; the decisions on material topics, omissions and assurance are yours.
- 01Define the report: option, entities, period and standards.Confirm in accordance or with reference, the entities and period, the applicable Sector Standard and any framework the report must also satisfy, such as the ESRS or IFRS S2.
- 02Gap analysis: review current disclosures, data and processes against the Standards.The gap analysis compares existing reports, policies, data sources and governance with the Universal, Sector and likely Topic Standards, keeps what is sound and agrees actions, owners and dates.
- 03Determine material topics with the GRI 3 process.Context review, impact identification across operations and the value chain, significance assessment and prioritisation, with stakeholder input, the sector topics tested one by one and the list approved by leadership.
- 04Build the data, the management descriptions and the evidence.Metric definitions and boundaries agreed, data collected from source systems and sites, Disclosure 3-3 written for every material topic, GRI 2 answered from real governance documents, and an evidence file opened per disclosure.
- 05Draft, index and check.The report drafted on Sterling's templates, the content index and statement of use prepared with it, reasons for omission decided, an internal data audit run as an assurance provider would, and gaps closed before publication.
- 06Publish, notify GRI and set up the next cycle.Publication, the notification to GRI, any assurance engagement supported through fieldwork, and a calendar, data owners and Effivity workspace that make the next report a routine, under Sustain™.
Check what you are being sold, not just the price. There is no GRI certificate for an organisation or a report. Ask instead how the material topics will be determined, how each metric will be evidenced and what your team can repeat next year. How to choose a credible GRI reporting provider · The certification buyer's checklist
Cost
How much does GRI reporting cost?
There is no useful universal price for a sustainability report. A single-site manufacturer preparing a first report needs a different scope from a listed group with subsidiaries in six countries and a lender waiting for assured emissions data. What we can promise is a proposal in which every component is visible and nothing is added later, with no certification fee, because none exists.
| Cost component | What affects it |
|---|---|
| Consulting and implementation | Current maturity, the reporting option, the entities and sites in scope, the number of material topics, the state of the data and how much of the work your team takes on (Design™ or Drive™) |
| External assurance, if you commission it | No certification fee exists. If your board, a lender, a customer or a regulator expects assurance, the provider's fee depends on the level, the disclosures in scope and the sites visited, and is contracted separately |
| Internal resources | Leadership time for the material topics, data-owner time at every site and function, stakeholder engagement, and changes to how metrics are captured |
| Software and learning | Included in a Sterling engagement: Effivity for the registers, evidence, audits and reviews behind the disclosures, and Sterling Academy access for your people, confirmed in the proposal |
| Continued support | The annual cycle, the materiality refresh, adoption of new and revised Standards such as GRI 102 and GRI 103, and assurance support each year under Sustain™ |
What moves the price
- Number of entities, sites and countries in scope
- In accordance or with reference, and whether a Sector Standard applies
- How many material topics you have and how much data exists today with evidence
- Whether the report must also satisfy the ESRS, IFRS S2, a rating platform or a lender
- The deadline, and how much of the work your team can carry
What a Sterling proposal always shows
- Deliverables, responsibilities, assumptions and exclusions, in writing
- No certification fee; any assurance provider's fee identified as separate
- Effivity, training and Academy access itemised at no additional cost
- Payment milestones tied to deliverables, not to the calendar
- One all-inclusive proposal. No surprises, ever
Timeline
How long does GRI reporting take?
The realistic timeline depends on your starting point, the number of sites and data owners, how quickly leadership can approve the material topics and whether the report must be assured before publication. A first report in accordance with the Standards typically takes four to eight months from kick-off to publication, because data has to be collected for a full reporting period and the draft has to survive an internal data audit. We plan backwards from your publication date, with milestones tracked in Effivity.
| Phase | What determines the pace |
|---|---|
| Scope and gap analysis | Access to previous reports, policies and data sources, and a clear decision on the reporting option and entities |
| Materiality assessment | The breadth of the value chain, the stakeholder groups to engage and how quickly leadership can approve the list |
| Data, evidence and management descriptions | The number of material topics and sites, the state of source systems and records, and the availability of data owners at period close |
| Drafting, content index and internal data audit | Review cycles with leadership and legal, and the time to close the gaps the internal audit finds |
| External assurance and publication | If commissioned: the provider's availability, the level and scope of assurance and the response to its findings before publication |
If a customer's deadline, an annual report date or a filing window sets the timeline, share it at the start; we will tell you what is achievable and which decisions cannot wait.
Challenges
Common GRI reporting challenges
Most sustainability reporting programmes stall for the same five reasons. Each has a practical answer.
Material topics were chosen in a meeting, not through a process.
We run the GRI 3 process as the Standard describes it: context, impacts across operations and the value chain, significance and prioritisation, with stakeholder input. The list is approved by leadership with the rationale recorded, so Disclosure 3-1 describes something that happened.
The numbers live in spreadsheets with no evidence behind them.
Every quantitative disclosure gets a definition sheet with boundary, method and source, and the records behind it are filed in Effivity as the data is collected. An assurance provider then finds a trail, not a reconstruction.
Sites and subsidiaries report differently, or not at all.
One set of metric definitions, one data calendar and one workspace across every entity, with local data owners trained on what to collect and why.
The report reads like marketing and would not survive a greenwashing complaint.
We apply the reporting principles as an editorial discipline: balance means negative impacts are reported, sustainability context means figures are placed against limits and expectations, and every claim is traced to evidence.
Nobody has time for a second framework: the ESRS, IFRS S2 or a rating platform is also asking.
The interoperability work between GRI, EFRAG and the ISSB is built into the report design: material topics, metrics and narratives are prepared once and mapped to each framework's data points.
Your engagement
What your GRI reporting engagement includes
Your agreed scope brings together everything a credible report and a prepared reporting team need. Most firms deliver a workshop and a draft and leave you to find the data; a Sterling engagement is the whole journey, from one team, under one all-inclusive proposal.
Scope, gap analysis and reporting plan
Reporting option, entities, period and responsibilities agreed with leadership before the first workshop, with dates worked back from publication.
Materiality assessment and report documentation
The GRI 3 process run with your leadership and stakeholders, and the reporting manual, metric definitions and management descriptions built on Sterling's own template sets.
Effivity ISO & GRC software
Your registers, policies, evidence, audits and reviews run in Effivity from day one, included with the engagement at no additional cost.
Training for everyone
Internal auditor training for the people who will audit your data and disclosures, as applicable to your standard, and preferential Sterling Academy access, including complimentary awareness training for your people as part of the engagement.
Data collection and evidence building
Definitions and boundaries for every metric, data collected from source systems with your data owners, and an evidence file per disclosure.
Report, content index and assurance readiness
The report drafted and reviewed, the content index and statement of use prepared, an internal data audit run, GRI notified and any assurance engagement supported through fieldwork.
The GRI Standards carry no certification; no certificate is promised, and where you commission assurance its conclusions remain the provider's.
How we deliver
How Sterling supports your GRI reporting
Every GRI engagement runs on Sterling OS™, our delivery operating system: five phases with named deliverables, decision owners and evidence at each stage. Pick the level of support your internal capacity allows; the method, the software and the accountability do not change.
- 01Design™Guided reporting: your team runs the assessment, collects the data and drafts the report with Sterling's structure, templates, workshops and coaching.
- 02Drive™Fully managed reporting: Sterling consultants take on the agreed assessment, data-building, drafting and index work with your leadership and data owners.
- 03Sustain™After the first report: the annual cycle run to a calendar, the materiality refresh, internal data audits, assurance support and training for new joiners, year after year.
- 04Automate™The evidence behind the report running in Effivity: context, impacts, policies, obligations, records, audits, actions and reviews in one workspace.
- 05Revise™Adoption of new and revised Standards, such as GRI 102 and GRI 103 from 2027, and changes in entities, frameworks or assurance expectations.
Before work starts we agree the engagement team, the weekly working session, the deliverables and who decides what, and progress is reviewed against those commitments so gaps show early.
How Sterling OS™ worksOften combined with
Standards organisations pair with GRI Standards
- AA1000AA1000 implementation and requirements: apply the AccountAbility Principles and SES, then prepare for AA1000AS v3 assurance by a licensed provider.
- B Corp CertificationB Corp certification made clear: the new B Lab Standards, Foundation Requirements, seven Impact Topics, the audit route and how Sterling prepares you.
- CBAMCBAM compliance and requirements explained: authorised declarant status, the 50-tonne threshold, verified embedded emissions and how Sterling helps you prepare.
- CDPCDP disclosure consulting: a complete, evidenced response on climate, forests and water, prepared with your team.
- CSDDDCSDDD compliance and requirements after Omnibus I: scoping, risk-based due diligence, complaints, monitoring and the 2029 start, delivered in one all-inclusive proposal.
- CSRD / ESRSCSRD and ESRS Sustainability reporting consulting: double materiality, ESRS disclosures and data prepared for limited assurance of your statement.
Effivity · the evidence behind your GRI report, included in every engagement
How Effivity helps you fulfil, automate and simplify the requirements of the GRI Standards 2021.
Effivity, the ISO and GRC automation platform built by the Sterling group and used in 50+ countries, is part of every Sterling GRI engagement. Your consultant configures the workspace within the agreed scope so that the context and stakeholders, impact and risk registers, policies, obligations, records, internal audits and management reviews behind the disclosures live in one place, with dates, owners and evidence attached. The report itself is drafted on Sterling's templates from that evidence. For Sterling consulting clients the Effivity subscription is included with the engagement, at no additional cost.
Reporting principles, applied
Documented information control for the reporting manual, metric definitions and approvals, so accuracy, comparability and verifiability are built into how each disclosure is produced.
Policies, governance and stakeholders
Policy and objectives records, the stakeholder register and the compliance obligations register, which supply the governance, policy and stakeholder engagement disclosures of GRI 2 from documents in use.
Impact register and significance
Internal and external issues, interested parties and their expectations, and aspects, hazards and risks assessed and rated, so the GRI 3 process starts from a maintained register.
Actions, targets and owners
Objectives with action plans, owners and dates, corrective actions and incident management, which give Disclosure 3-3 real content: what is done about each impact, by whom and with what result.
Compliance obligations by site and topic
Legal, regulatory, contractual and voluntary obligations captured and tracked per site, so the sector topics of GRI 11 to GRI 14 and the compliance disclosures are answered from a live register.
Energy, water, emissions and waste records
Aspects and impacts, waste profiles for air, water and solid waste, monitoring data and performance evaluation: the operational records behind GRI 302, 303, 305 and 306 and the revised GRI 102 and 103.
People, safety and training records
Records of roles, competence and training, incidents and emergencies, and internal audit findings, which support GRI 403 occupational health and safety, GRI 404 training and education and the workforce disclosures.
Audit trail for every disclosure
Internal audits scheduled against the disclosures, management review inputs and decisions recorded, and documents with revision history and approvals, so the content index points to evidence an assurance provider can open.
What this means when the assurance provider arrives
An assurance provider or a due diligence team asks the same things: how were the material topics determined, where does each number come from, who approved the policy and can we see the record. In Effivity each is a screen with dates, owners and attachments, not a folder assembled the week before fieldwork, and Sustain™ runs in the same workspace after the first report.
In your engagement
- Subscription included with the engagement, at no additional cost
- Configured by your Sterling consultant within the agreed scope
- Your registers, policies and records migrated, not retyped
- Admin and user training for your team
- Modules for EMS, OHSMS, QMS and ISMS when your certified systems share the evidence
GRI client experience
Client letters on file, available on request.
Signed client letters for GRI Standards are available on request. The client feedback wall lists every letter by standard.
Programmes with GRI reporting in scope
How an integrated sustainability programme runs.
- 01How integrated programmes run
GRI reporting on top of certified environmental, safety and energy systems
GRI reporting is commonly added to an integrated programme that already holds ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and ISO 50001 certification and an ISO 14064-1 greenhouse gas inventory. In such a programme the aspects, hazards, legal registers, objectives and monitoring data of the certified systems become the evidence for the environmental and social Topic Standards, one internal audit covers the systems and the data, and one management review approves the report, so the disclosures come from systems audited every year.
Sterling Academy · GRI e-learning
Train every employee on the GRI Standards, not just the sustainability team.
Sterling Academy delivers e-learning for the whole workforce and for the people who produce the report: video lessons, a final exam and a numbered Certificate of Completion for each learner, verifiable online. Sterling consulting clients benefit from preferential course access and special pricing through their Sterling consultant, including complimentary awareness training for their people as part of the engagement.
- GRI Standards awareness for every employee, so impacts and incidents are recorded by the people who see them first
- Practitioner courses for data owners, site coordinators and the managers who approve the disclosures
- Internal auditor training for the people who will audit your data and disclosures, as applicable to your standard, as part of the engagement
- Learner progress by department and a training status report for the board
- New hires trained as they arrive, so competence evidence is current at every reporting cycle
- A Sterling consultant reachable when a learner needs one
Keep exploring
Explore more about GRI Standards
Watch a video on how to report with the GRI Standards here.
Watch a video on GRI Standards requirements here.
Why Sterling
Want a GRI report that stands up to scrutiny? Come to Sterling.
Whether you are publishing a first report for one company or aligning reporting across subsidiaries in several countries, Sterling helps you establish one process with clear local ownership and a consolidated report that is consistent.
Management systems in 60+ countries since 2003
The environmental, safety, energy, quality and security systems that supply a report's evidence, implemented for manufacturers, contractors, BPOs and financial services firms, with one engagement team accountable across every country you operate in.
All-inclusive proposal
Consulting, Effivity, training and Academy access in one proposal, with no certification fee because none exists and any assurance provider's fee identified as separate. No surprises, ever.
A report your people can produce again
Less documentation and maximum effect: metric definitions in plain terms, data collected where the work happens, a content index prepared with the report, and a calendar that makes next year's report a routine.
Expert and experienced consultants
Consultants who have advised on management systems across sectors and countries since 2003, and who build your materiality assessment and data properly the first time.
The Sterling Promise
What our GRI reporting success guarantee means
We stay with you until your agreed GRI reporting outcome is achieved: the material topics approved, the data and evidence built, the report and content index completed with the statement of use, GRI notified and, where commissioned, the assurance engagement supported to its conclusion. Clear explanations, practical delivery, included software and employee learning turn the investment into a reporting capability.
The engagement identifies the standards, scope, outcome and responsibilities. Your organisation supplies accurate information, decides the material topics, omissions and assurance option and runs the agreed process. The GRI Standards carry no certification, so no certificate is promised; where you commission external assurance, its conclusions remain the assurance provider's. Our commitment concerns the agreed reporting support, not how any reader or regulator will judge the disclosures.
After publication
What happens after your GRI report is published?
The report becomes a commitment to be reported against. Stakeholders respond, customers ask follow-up questions, and the next reporting period opens the day the current one closes. Once a year the material topics are reviewed for changes in the business, the value chain and the standards, and the internal data audit runs before the draft rather than after the complaint.
Under Sterling OS™ Sustain™ we run the annual cycle to a calendar, refresh the materiality assessment, audit the data with you, support the assurance engagement, adopt new and revised Standards and train the people who join, so the report stays current between publications.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions about the GRI Standards
Can an organisation be GRI certified?
No. GRI does not certify organisations or reports. A report states in its statement of use that it was prepared in accordance with, or with reference to, the GRI Standards, and the organisation notifies GRI. GRI certifies individual professionals, licenses software and checks content indexes through its Content Index Service; none of these certifies the report or the organisation.
What is the difference between reporting in accordance with and with reference to the GRI Standards?
In accordance means all nine requirements of GRI 1 are met, from the reporting principles and every GRI 2 disclosure to the content index, the statement of use and the notification to GRI. With reference is for an organisation that cannot yet meet all nine or uses selected standards for a specific purpose; it requires only the content index, the statement of use and the notification, and cannot be called in accordance.
Is external assurance required for a GRI report?
No. GRI recommends external assurance from competent, independent providers, and Disclosure 2-5 asks each reporter to describe its policy and practice for seeking it, but the decision is the organisation's unless a regulator, lender or customer requires it. Providers typically work under ISSA 5000, ISAE 3000 (Revised) or AA1000AS v3. Sterling prepares the report and the evidence; Sterling does not provide the assurance.
Do we have to use a Sector Standard?
Yes, if you report in accordance and operate in a covered sector: oil and gas, coal, agriculture, aquaculture and fishing, or mining. You review each likely material topic it lists, report the disclosures it points to for those you find material and explain in the content index any sector topic you concluded is not material. Financial services and textiles and apparel standards are in development.
How do the GRI Standards relate to the ESRS and the CSRD?
EFRAG and GRI have worked together since 2021: in September 2023 they confirmed a high level of interoperability on impact reporting, and the GRI–ESRS Interoperability Index followed in 2024. An organisation in scope of the EU's CSRD reports under the ESRS, whose scope and timelines are changing under the EU's Omnibus package, and a well-built GRI materiality assessment and data set carry most of the impact content across.
How do the GRI Standards relate to the ISSB Standards, IFRS S1 and IFRS S2?
GRI and the IFRS Foundation describe their standards as two pillars: the ISSB Standards address what matters to investors, the GRI Standards address impacts for all stakeholders. Under a 2022 memorandum of understanding they published interoperability considerations for greenhouse gas emissions in 2024 and in June 2025 issued a joint statement on using GRI 102 and IFRS S2 together, with equivalence for emissions disclosures.
Can a small or medium-sized company report with the GRI Standards?
Yes. A smaller company usually has fewer material topics, fewer sites and a shorter report. What does not shrink is the discipline: a real process for material topics, defined metrics with evidence and a complete content index.
What changes with GRI 102 and GRI 103 from 2027?
They were published in June 2025 and apply from January 2027, taking over the content of GRI 302: Energy 2016 and Disclosures 305-1 to 305-5 of GRI 305: Emissions 2016; the Sector Standards have been reissued in V1.1 versions aligned with the revised Topic Standards. If climate or energy is material for you, build the data behind the new disclosures during the 2026 reporting period.
What do you need to prepare a GRI reporting proposal?
The entities and sites to be covered, approximate headcount, whether you have reported before, which certificates you hold, who is asking for the report and by when, and whether assurance, the ESRS or IFRS S2 is also in the picture. That is enough for a scoped, all-inclusive proposal.
Before the first call
Prepare a useful GRI readiness brief
You do not need a materiality assessment before the first discussion. Bring a short account of who is asking for the report and what data exists. Seven questions are enough:
- Who is asking for a sustainability report: a customer, a lender, an investor, a rating platform, a regulator or a parent company? Or, if nobody has asked, why now?
- Which entities, sites and countries should the report cover, and which reporting period?
- Have you reported before, with which standards or frameworks, and did the report carry a GRI content index and statement of use?
- Do you operate in oil and gas, coal, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing or mining, so that a Sector Standard applies?
- Which management system certificates do you hold, and which sustainability data is already collected with records?
- Must the report also satisfy the ESRS, IFRS S2 or a rating platform, and is external assurance expected?
- Is there a publication date, an annual report deadline or a customer's due date to plan around?
These answers let us scope the work and prepare a realistic proposal. They prepare a discussion; they are not a scored assessment or a verdict on your reporting.
Don’t be fooled by certification scams
If it comes with a GRI certificate, it is not GRI reporting.
GRI does not certify organisations or reports. That has not stopped a market in "GRI certified" badges, ten-day reports assembled from another company's disclosures and materiality assessments completed by a consultant alone in an afternoon. They cost less, until a due diligence team or an assurance provider asks where the numbers came from.
How to choose a credible GRI reporting provider
- Walk away from any offer of a "GRI certificate" or "GRI certified" badge for your organisation. GRI certifies individual professionals and licenses software; it does not certify reports or companies.
- Ask how the material topics will be determined, and with whom. A provider that arrives with the list already written is selling a template, not the GRI 3 process.
- Ask where each number will come from and what evidence will sit behind it. A report whose figures cannot be traced to records is a liability the moment anyone looks.
- Check that the content index and the statement of use will be prepared and accurate. A report without them, or with an in-accordance claim it cannot support, is not a GRI report.
- Ask what your people will learn and what system the evidence will live in. No training and no system means next year's report starts from nothing.
- Be cautious of "in accordance in two weeks", disclosures copied from a peer's report and a provider that offers to assure the report it wrote. Data takes a full period to collect, and GRI expects assurance providers to be independent.
Keep exploring
More on GRI Standards and related standards
More in ESG & sustainability reporting
Talk to a consultant
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