The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has introduced a new service to streamline sustainability reporting for companies in the European Union (EU). The GRI-ESRS Linkage Service aims to simplify compliance with the bloc’s new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

The GRI offers the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting standards, ensuring consistent and transparent communication from companies on ESG issues. These standards were recently updated in 2021, with additional proposed standards focused on climate change, energy, and biodiversity currently under development.

The EU’s CSRD, which took effect in 2024, mandates detailed sustainability reporting from a significantly larger pool of companies. This number jumps from around 12,000 to over 50,000, requiring these companies to disclose their impacts on the environment, human rights, social issues, and sustainability risks.

GRI-ESRS Linkage Service: Avoiding Double Reporting

The GRI-ESRS Linkage Service addresses a key challenge for companies already reporting under GRI standards. The new EU framework utilizes the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), developed by EFRAG. To avoid the burden of “double reporting,” the GRI and EFRAG collaborated to ensure a high degree of interoperability between the two systems.

GRI’s New Service Explained

The GRI-ESRS Linkage Service offers companies a helping hand in navigating this new landscape.

* Companies submit their existing GRI content index.
* GRI reviews the content and provides feedback on how well it aligns with the ESRS requirements.
* This feedback includes identifying areas where disclosures are sufficient, areas needing improvement, and any missing ESRS data points not covered by GRI standards.
* GRI offers guidance on structuring the ESRS sustainability statement and addressing relevant ESRS Topical Areas.

The GRI-EFRAG partnership extends beyond the GRI-ESRS Linkage Service, with joint efforts focused on developing reporting standards, training initiatives, and the GRI-ESRS Interoperability Index, which provides a clear mapping between the two frameworks. By simplifying the transition to the CSRD, the GRI-ESRS Linkage Service empowers companies to meet regulatory requirements while maintaining their existing GRI reporting practices.

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