Second round of the GRI’s Reader’s Choice Awards opening today

(3BLMedia/theCSRfeed) Amsterdam - March 18, 2010 - The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has today announced the organizations that are still in the running for the Reader’s Choice Awards.

Readers can now continue to vote on the shortlisted organizations from 13 different countries. They determine who deserve recognition for their sustainability reporting.   Voting is now open at http://awards.globalreporting.org and closes 8 April.   Since the re-launch of a simpler, more user-friendly format, voting is now easy and quick. Already over 3,500 people from across 88 countries worldwide have participated during the first phase of the competition.   Solitaire Townsend, Co-founder of Partner organization Futerra said:   “This year the global response has been phenomenal. Brazil, India and the USA are the top 3 countries at the forefront of voting but other votes are coming in from every corner of the world. Everyone wants to have their say on the future of sustainability reporting and we can’t wait to see the final results.”   Wim Bartels, Partner at KPMG Sustainability Netherlands said:   "As two years have progressed since the first Readers’ Choice Awards, this year's shortlist and survey results will show how readers assess the efforts companies worldwide have put into sustainability reporting. We look forward to learning about the progress made and the challenges ahead."   The 6 winners will be announced at the GRI Awards Ceremony taking place at the Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency, 26-28 May 2010.   The GRI Conference will be the world’s largest gathering of leaders, thinkers and doers in the field of sustainability reporting.  It will feature debate on how reporting can be used to help build a better future. Expert practitioners will lead workshops and interactive sessions to define the building blocks of more effective reporting.   GRI developed the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework and partners for the Awards with KPMG Spain, KPMG Netherlands, SustainAbility, Futerra, TCS and ACCA.   To take part in the Survey and Awards as a reader or reporter, click here now.   Click here for further information on the Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency.   Media Contact   Marjella Alma e: alma@globalreporting.org t: +31 (0)20 531 00 36    About The Global Reporting Initiative   The Global Reporting Initiative has pioneered the development of the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework and is committed to its continuous improvement and application worldwide. This framework sets out the principles and indicators that organizations can use to measure and report their economic, environmental, and social performance. www.globalreporting.org   About the Readers’ Choice Awards   The GRI Readers’ Choice Awards was designed to give all sustainability report readers worldwide the opportunity to shape the future of best practice in sustainability reporting by voicing their opinions on the state of reporting today. GRI and its partners developed the GRI Readers' Choice Awards concept as a way to capture the preferences of readers, but also as a way to alert potential new readers to the value of sustainability information available to them today.