Inspiring a Global Network to Foster Corporate Transparency

July 1, 2021 /3BL Media/ - The world’s leading global membership network for companies committed to sustainability reporting has relaunched today, with updated learning and collaboration opportunities that raises the bar for corporate transparency.

The GRI Community, first established by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in 2003, is a group of like-minded organizations that have placed sustainability, as supported by public disclosure through the GRI Standards, at the center of their ways of working. It currently has more than 500 members from over 70 countries across 35 sectors, that collectively employ five million people with €12 trillion (US$14t) in assets.

To help the Community continue to grow and reach more organizations, GRI has redesigned the program so that it delivers greater value and flexibility in its offering for members, including different membership packages tailored to their sustainability reporting needs.

As Sabine Content, Director Corporate & Stakeholder Engagement at GRI, explained:

“The GRI Community is about supporting any organization – regardless of sector, size or reporting experience – to progress on their sustainability journey, getting more from their GRI reporting through opportunities for peer learning and practical guidance. Following extensive consultation with existing, past and prospective members, we have refreshed the Community so that it will offer maximum value for members, while ensuring we can be inclusive of more companies around the world.”

Organizations that are committed to communicating their impacts through the GRI Standards, the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting standards, are invited to join. All Community members benefit from:

1. A year-round program of in-depth learning and knowledge-sharing on the latest sustainability reporting topics and trends;
2. Networking activities with a diverse group of sustainability practitioners from around the world;
3. Profiling opportunities that showcase their contribution to corporate transparency. 

What has been the experience of current Community members?

• “As a GRI Community member we value best practice sharing, insights into new ESG trends, hands-on advice on reporting, materiality and disclosure, and peer collaboration” - Galya Tsonkova, Group Sustainability Policy and Reporting Manager, Coca-Cola HBC AG (Switzerland)
• “Sustainability is at the forefront of corporate governance, and the GRI Community is an essential place to be for growing sustainability and reporting requirements” - Girish Ramachandran, President, Tata Consultancy Services Asia Pacific (Singapore)
• “Services ranging from training and webinars to in-person or online networking events are a tremendous support to any new or mature reporting organization” - Sonja de Klerk, Lead Quality, Environment and Sustainability, Zutari (South Africa)
• “The program has allowed us to establish relationships with other stakeholders, share learnings and build networks that today are essential to the new social and economic context in which we navigate” - Patricia Perez, CSR Manager, Abertis (Spain)

Find out more about the GRI Community, including engagement and learning opportunities, and membership rates. View the GRI Partners Directory to view and search the list of current Community members around the world.

Employees of Community member companies receive a 25% discount for courses available through the GRI Academy, the online learning portal for sustainability and reporting practitioners, which includes courses for the GRI Professional Certification Program.

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the independent, international organization that helps businesses and other organizations take responsibility for their impacts, by providing the global common language to report those impacts – the GRI Standards.