Sustainability Reporting Leader GRI Deepens Multi-Stakeholder Governance

August 29, 2024 /3BL/ - The stakeholder forum that advises the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) on key strategic issues has appointed new leadership and members. Erdem Kolcuoglu and Constance Kane have begun their terms as Chair and Vice-Chair of the GRI Stakeholder Council, with eight new members appointed.

Erdem Kolcuoglu is Senior Consultant and a Vice-Chair at Kıymet-i Harbiye Yönetim Danışmanlık, a leading sustainability consultancy in Türkiye, and has over 15 years of experience in corporate sustainability. Constance Kane is Executive Director at Women Changemakers for Education in the USA, and brings deep expertise in the fields of women’s empowerment and education, social justice and human rights.

The 24 members of the Stakeholder Council represent five defined constituency groups, with diverse representation that spans global regions. The new members, who started their terms on 1 August, are:

• Prabodha Acharya, Chief Sustainability Officer, JSW Group – India (business enterprise)
• Adekemi Adisa, General Manager, MTN Nigeria Communications PLC – Nigeria (business enterprise)
• Louis Coppola, Co-Founder, Governance & Accountability Institute – USA (mediating institution)
• Vanessa Gomes, Executive Director, Standard Chartered Bank – USA (investment institution)
• José Miguel Salazar, Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Sustainability Hub Manager, PwC Poland – Poland (mediating institution)
• Mélanie Jeanroy, Legal Officer, International Labour Organization – Switzerland (labor organization)
• Gustavo Sinner, Director, AG Sustentable – Argentina (mediating institution)
• Markus Pfannkuch, Co-CEO, Precious Woods Holding Ltd – Switzerland (business enterprise)

Erdem Kolcuoglu, the new Chair of GRI Stakeholder Council, said:

“The multi-stakeholder approach, which can be expressed through the motto of ‘for our stakeholders, with our stakeholders’, represents the founding spirit and distinctive characteristic of GRI. It is the core ethos that shapes the way we operate, our standards activities, products and services.

The Stakeholder Council embodies the multi-stakeholder spirit within GRI's governance structure. We place great importance on pluralism, diversity and inclusiveness in its composition. Professionals from around the world, representing a wide range of areas and backgrounds, come together to support GRI’s mission. This enables GRI to listen effectively to its stakeholders, develop standards and services that best meet their expectations, and remain relevant in an ever-changing reporting environment.”

Constance Kane, the new Vice-Chair of GRI Stakeholder Council, added:

“There are many reasons why reporting on impacts, via standard setters like GRI, is critical. These include issues like compliance, operational efficiency and risk management. More important is the matter of stakeholder trust and accountability. This is where GRI has a strong competitive advantage, particularly through the Stakeholder Council – a body which works tirelessly to ensure that all stakeholder voices are heard and incorporated into GRI’s global standards. I am thrilled to be upholding the multi-stakeholder charge in my new role as Vice-Chair.”

The core function of the Stakeholder Council is to provide advice and recommendations to the GRI Management Board, Supervisory Board and Global Sustainability Standards Board, including on GRI policy, business planning and key activities.

Appointments to the Council are on a voluntary basis and members serve a three-year term. Membership is refreshed on a regular basis with a global public call for applications.

The Chair and Vice-Chair appointments follow the outcome of elections among the GRI Stakeholder Council members, which took place in May and June 2024.

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 are the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting standards, which are developed through a multi-stakeholder process and provided as a free public good.