Barbara Strozzilaan 336
1083 HN Amsterdam
The Netherlands
gssbsecretariat@globalreporting.org

GSSB summary of the virtual meeting
held on 25 February 2021
Approved by the GSSB on 23 March 2021

© GRI 2021

1Contents

2Participants.............................................................................................................................................. 3

3

List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ 3

4Decisions and action items ..................................................................................................................... 4

5Session 1: Welcome ............................................................................................................................... 4

6Session 2: GRI Sector Standards Project for Mining: Draft project proposal ......................................... 5

7

Session 3: GRI Universal Standards project update .............................................................................. 5

8

Feedback on revisions to GRI 101: Section 4. Reporting principles ............................................... 59Feedback on revisions to GRI 101: Section 2. Key concepts.......................................................... 610Feedback on the inclusion of human rights in the definition of material topic ................................. 611Feedback on revisions to GRI 103: Material Topics and the materiality matrix visual .................... 712Feedback on revisions to reasons for omission .............................................................................. 813Session 4: Any other business and close of public meeting ................................................................... 9Page 2 of 9

14Participants

15Present:

161718NameConstituency

Judy Kuszewski

Chair

Robyn Leeson

Vice-Chair

Loredana CartaLaborPeter Colley

Labor

Giulia Genuardi

Business enterprise

Evan Harvey

Investment institution

Kim Schumacher

Civil society organization

Joseph Martin

Business enterpriseJennifer Princing

Business enterprise

Corli le RouxMediating institution

Gustavo SinnerMediating institution

Kenton Swift

Civil society organization

Michel Washer

Business enterprise

Apologies:
NameConstituency

Rama Krishnan Venkateswaran

Investment institution

Vincent Kong

Business enterprise

In attendance from GRI:
NamePosition

Bastian Buck

Chief of Standards

Laura Espinach

Head of Technical Development

Anna Krotova

Senior Manager

Miguel Perez Ludena

Research Lead Sector Program

List of abbreviations
GSSB
SD
RfO
ILO

Global Sustainability Standards Board
Standards Division
Reasons for omission
International Labour Organization

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19Decisions and action items

20

Decisions

21

GSSB Decision 2021.01 The GSSB resolved to approve Item 01 – Draft summary of the GSSB

22

meeting held on 3 December 2020.

23

GSSB Decision 2021.02 The GSSB resolved to approve Item 02 – Draft summary of the GSSB

24

meeting held on 10 December 2020.

25

GSSB Decision 2021.03 The GSSB resolved to approve Item 03 – Draft summary of the GSSB

26

meeting held on 21 January 2021.

27

Action items
Standards Division
Session 3•

SD to explore ways to address GSSB recommendation toinclude a reference to regulatory instruments such asenvironmental impact assessments under the Sustainability
Context principle.

•SD to explore ways to elevate the guidance for reporting onimpacts commonly associated with the organization’s sector toa more prominent position under the Guidance to MT-2.

•SD to use the phrase ‘impacts on their human rights’ in thedefinition of material topic.

•SD to explore developing separate guidance on materiality.

•SD to further explore options for using reasons for omissions(RfOs) in the Universal Standards.

28

Session 1: Welcome

29

The Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) Chair Judy Kuszewski (henceforth the Chair)

30

welcomed the GSSB and presented an overview of the meeting agenda.

31

The GSSB was presented with Item 01 – Draft summary of the GSSB meeting held on 3 December

322020, Item 02 – Draft summary of the GSSB meeting held on 10 December 2020 and Item 03 – Draft

33

summary of the GSSB meeting held on 21 January 2021 for approval.

34

GSSB Decision 2021.01 The GSSB resolved to approve Item 01 – Draft summary of the GSSB

35

meeting held on 3 December 2020,Page 4 of 9

36

GSSB Decision 2021.02 The GSSB resolved to approve Item 02 – Draft summary of the GSSB

37

meeting held on 10 December 2020 and38

GSSB Decision 2021.03 The GSSB resolved to approve Item 03 – Draft summary of the GSSB

39

meeting held on 21 January 2021.

40

Session 2: GRI Sector Standards

41

Project for Mining: Draft project42

proposal

43

The GSSB was presented with Item 04 – GRI Sector Standards Project for Mining – Draft project44

proposal for review.

45

The Standards Division (SD) presented the proposed timeline and scope of the project, highlighting46

the inclusion of quarrying, and the separation of metal processing into a different Sector Standard.

47

The SD also highlighted that the project proposal would go to the GRI Board of Directors and the48

Stakeholder Council for input before returning to the GSSB for final project approval.

49

The GSSB discussed potential considerations of mapping the resulting Sector Standards to different

50

classification systems. The SD stated that they would not map directly to some of the other51

classification systems because of the separation of metal processing.

52

A GSSB member expressed support for including quarrying in the scope of the Sector Standard and53highlighted the potential challenge of separating metals processing.

54

The GSSB expressed support for the GRI Sector Standard Project for Mining to continue as outlined.

55

Session 3: GRI Universal

56Standards project update

57

Feedback on revisions to GRI 101: Section 4. Reporting principles

58

The GSSB was presented with Item 06 – GRI Universal Standards Project – Revised GRI 101:

59

Section 4. Reporting principles and Item 07 – GRI Universal Standards Project – Public comment60

feedback on Reporting Principles for discussion.

61

The SD presented a summary of the GSSB feedback on the revised Section 4. Reporting principles in62

GRI 101: Using the GRI Standards. A GSSB member suggested including a reference to regulatory

Page 5 of 963

instruments such as environmental impact assessments in the Sustainability Context principle. The

64

SD will work with the GSSB member to address this recommendation. No further comments were65

raised.

66

Actions:67•SD to explore ways to address GSSB recommendation to include a reference to regulatory

68

instruments such as environmental impact assessments under the Sustainability Context

69

principle.

70

Feedback on revisions to GRI 101: Section 2. Key concepts

71

The GSSB was presented with Item 05 – GRI Universal Standards Project – Revised GRI 101:

72

Section 2. Key concepts for discussion.

73

The SD presented a summary of the GSSB feedback on the revised key concepts of ‘material topic’74

and ‘due diligence’ in GRI 101 and explained how this feedback will be addressed.

75

A GSSB member raised a concern about the location of the guidance for organizations to explain how

76

they have considered impacts commonly associated with their sector in the absence of an applicable

77

Sector Standard. This is currently positioned at the end of the Guidance to MT-2-b in GRI 103. The78

GSSB member suggested that the guidance be moved up to the general guidance on MT-2 to79

highlight its importance. The SD agreed to look at ways to reorganize the guidance to elevate the80

content more prominently.

81

Actions:82•

SD to explore ways to elevate the guidance for reporting on impacts commonly associatedwith the organization’s sector to a more prominent position under the Guidance to MT-2.

83

85

Feedback on the inclusion of human rights in the definition ofmaterial topic

86

The SD reiterated the public comment and GSSB feedback on the inclusion of the phrase ‘impacts on87human rights’ in the definition of material topic. The SD presented two options, revised to incorporate

88

GSSB feedback from the 10 December 2020 meeting:

84

89•Option 1: continue to include ‘impacts on their human rights’ in the definition of material topic;

90•Option 2: remove human rights from the definition and include an explanatory chapeau

91

highlighting the importance of reporting on human rights and other impacts, along with explicit

92

mentions of human rights in key disclosures of the Standards.

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A GSSB member highlighted that health and safety issues can be important impacts that94

organizations have on people, and that emphasizing human rights so prominently could overshadow

95

other such important impacts.

96

Another GSSB member argued that human rights are in fact the most fundamental level of protection

97

provided to people as outlined by authoritative organizations such as the International Labour

98

Organization (ILO). The member also reiterated that the GRI Technical Committee on Human Rights

99

had been tasked with aligning the GRI Standards with authoritative international instruments on

100

human rights, and they specifically recommended including human rights in the definition of101

materiality. The member argued that impacts on human rights are a cross-cutting issue that have102

always occurred, and will continue to occur in the future, thus making them one of the most vital103

impacts for the GRI Standards to address. Other members provided support for this stance. A

104

member also highlighted that the ILO has recently opened discussion on whether health and safety is

105

in fact an additional fundamental human right.

106

A GSSB member raised the concern that human rights are transient, and that they are less pressing

107

today that they have been in the past, and that they will continue to improve. The member reasoned

108

that this means focus may shift from the issue in the future, which provides a reason to allow focus on

109

other topics as well. A GSSB member responded that although human rights are indeed evolving,110

they remain the most broadly impactful and enduring impact organizations have.

111

A member asked if there was any specific constituency which provided the feedback against including

112

human rights in the definition of materiality. The SD mentioned this would require evaluation. The

113

GSSB member stated this may not be worth pursuing, as the number of comments is small.

114

The Chair observed the support for both options, with the majority of stated positions preferring

115

Option 1.

116

Actions:117•SD to use the phrase ‘impacts on their human rights’ in the definition of material topic.

119

Feedback on revisions to GRI 103: Material Topics and themateriality matrix visual120

The GSSB was presented with Item 08 – GRI Universal Standards Project – Revised GRI 103:

121

Material Topics and Item 09 – GRI Universal Standards Project – Public comment feedback on GRI

122

103: Material Topics for discussion.

123

The SD presented a summary of the GSSB feedback on the revised GRI 103: Material Topics and124

explained how this feedback will be addressed. No further comments were received.

125

The SD presented a summary of public comment and GSSB feedback on the materiality matrix visual.

126

The feedback was divided for and against including the matrix in the revised Universal Standards.

118

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127

The GSSB expressed hesitance about removing a tool that has been well used, especially given that128

the concept of materiality is an important foundation for sustainability reporting and is still not well129

understood or implemented. The GSSB felt strongly that support and technical guidance should be130

provided on this concept.

131

The GSSB discussed how to reconcile the previously used example of the materiality matrix with the132

updated definition of materiality. They also discussed where it would be beneficial for the GSSB to133

provide guidance on significant ongoing developments in sustainability reporting, such as on the134

concept of double materiality and its associated representations. The GSSB stated that these135

discussions are currently so fluid that it would be difficult to include a concrete stance in the136

Standards themselves.

137

The GSSB expressed support for the inclusion of further guidance for reporting organizations in a138

format such as a website FAQ, which could also include suggestions for visuals. This could include

139

options for visual representations of the GRI concept of materiality and its connection to the double

140

materiality concept.

141

Actions:142•SD to explore developing separate guidance on materiality.

143

Feedback on revisions to reasons for omission

144

The SD presented an analysis of reporting scenarios following requirements in the exposure draft

145

related to using reasons for omission (RfOs), as requested by the GSSB in December 2020. The SD

146

reviewed the current potential to use RfOs for requirements in GRI 102 and 103 and discussed the147

actions organizations may take when reporting on requirements.

148

The SD requested feedback from the GSSB on the function of RfOs in transparency. GSSB members

149

raised a question about how the use of RfOs is currently assessed by rating agencies. The GSSB

150

suggested that guidance to help clarify requirements and streamline presentation of information in the151

GRI content index may solve some of the implementation concerns regarding RfOs. The GSSB also

152

suggested that the GRI Services Team could be involved in providing this guidance.

153

The SD summarized the GSSB feedback, which indicated allowing RfOs.

154

Two GSSB members raised the concept of ‘comply or explain’ as a way to gather similar information,

155

mentioning that it is used in a variety of other frameworks. The SD clarified that the RfOs are used as156

a tool to evaluate reports as being in accordance with the Standards, and they provide a means to157

measure the content and quality of information reported using the Standards.

158

The Chair and the SD acknowledged that this would require more discussion in future meetings.

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159
160

Actions:•161

SD to further explore options for using reasons for omissions (RfOs) in the UniversalStandards.

162

Session 4: Any other business and163

close of public meeting

164

No other business was raised and the Chair closed the meeting at 15.02 CET (Central European165

Time).

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