GRI Standards
Intuition
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was founded in Boston in 1997 and is now based in Amsterdam. It published its first reporting guidelines in 2000 and turned them into formal GRI Standards in 2016. GRI is the most widely used framework for voluntary sustainability reports in the world.
GRI is built on impact materiality: it asks how a company affects the economy, the environment and people, including human rights. It is written for all stakeholders, not only investors. That makes it different from the ISSB Standards, which focus on how sustainability issues affect the company itself.
Many large Indian companies publish a sustainability or integrated report "with reference to" or "in accordance with" GRI, alongside their mandatory BRSR. The GRI content index at the back of such a report is a useful map of where each disclosure sits.
Mechanics
Three series of standards
| Series | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Universal Standards | GRI 1 (Foundation: reporting principles and requirements), GRI 2 (General Disclosures: organisation, governance, strategy, policies), GRI 3 (Material Topics: how to identify and report material topics). Revised in 2021, in force since 1 January 2023. |
| Sector Standards | Topics likely to be material for high-impact sectors, starting with oil and gas, coal, agriculture and fishing, and mining |
| Topic Standards | Detailed disclosures on specific topics, such as emissions, water, waste, occupational health and safety, labour practices and anti-corruption |
Recent changes to topic standards
- GRI 101: Biodiversity 2024: in force from 1 January 2026, replacing GRI 304. Aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and mapped against TNFD.
- GRI 102: Climate Change 2025: in force from 1 January 2027, replacing the emissions disclosures in GRI 305 and disclosure 201-2. It emphasises science-based targets and adds just transition indicators covering workers, Indigenous peoples and communities.
- GRI 103: Energy 2025: in force from 1 January 2027, replacing GRI 302. It covers energy use across the supply chain, renewable and non-renewable sources, and energy targets.
Two ways to use GRI
- In accordance with GRI: the company meets all the requirements of the Universal Standards and reports on all its material topics
- With reference to GRI: the company uses selected GRI Standards for some topics, without full compliance
The content index
Every GRI report includes a content index listing each disclosure and where to find it, or why it was left out.
Sources
From the research
A Comparative Financial Analysis of Three Listed Companies
Three IT services leaders, five years of numbers: similar growth, very different margins and returns on capital, and their October 2026 valuations.
MarketsIPO Issue Price vs. Listing Price vs. Subsequent Performance
Seven of India's most talked-about IPOs since 2021, tracked from issue price to listing to October 2026. Buying on listing day lost money in six of seven.
ValuationPaytm: Valuing a Company With No Clean Comparable
Paytm is part payments processor, part device business, part loan distributor. Why no single peer fits, and how to value it in parts and in reverse.
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Key glossary terms
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