GRI Standards Report Registration
SystemFrequently Asked Questions (FAQs)© GRI 2023

Contents
GRI Standards Report Registration System ........................................................................................... 1
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ................................................................................................... 1
1.

How do I register a report or any published material referencing the GRI Standards? .......... 32.
How should I notify GRI of the use of the GRI Standards – using the email address
mentioned in the Standards or using Report Registration System? ................................................ 33.

Why do I have to register my report in the first place? ........................................................... 3

4.

Should I notify GRI of the use of the Standards before or after the report is published? ....... 35.
Can GRI verify that the report of my organization has been written correctly in accordancewith the GRI Standards? .................................................................................................................. 36.

How often should my organization publish and submit reports? ............................................ 4

7.
The report of my organization is published in several languages, which one should Iregister? ........................................................................................................................................... 48.

My report won’t be made public and will only be available internally. Should I still register it?
49.

Can you give me some examples of reports that use the Universal Standards 2021? .......... 410.

Can you provide some data (for research) about information in the registered reports? ... 411.
There used to be a database with publicly available reports, but I can’t see it on thewebsite anymore. What happened? ................................................................................................ 412.

Why do I see a registered report in the system with the status ‘unverified’? ...................... 513.

How will I know that my report is registered? ...................................................................... 514.

Can a third party (a consultant) register a report on behalf of a reporting organization? ... 515.
Can I update information about a report once I have completed the report registration
process? .......................................................................................................................................... 616.

I forgot my password, what should I do? ............................................................................ 6Page 2 of 6

1. How do I register a report or any published materialreferencing the GRI Standards?
You can register a GRI Standards-based report or any published material referencing the GRI
Standards using the GRI Standards Report Registration System. To register your report, pleaseclick here and log in using your MyGRI account. If you don’t have an account yet, sign up for one. You
can find a step-by-step guidance in our Guide to Register a GRI Standards Report.
If you require further assistance or have a question, please contact
reportregistration@globalreporting.org.

2. How should I notify GRI of the use of the GRI Standards –using the email address mentioned in the Standards or using
Report Registration System?
As per Requirement 9 in the Universal Standards 2021, the organization shall notify GRI of the use ofthe GRI Standards and the statement of use by sending an email toreportregistration@globalreporting.org. At the same time, we would like to store the report safely andefficiently, that is why we kindly ask organizations to also register their reports via GRI Standards
Report Registration System.

3. Why do I have to register my report in the first place?
As per Requirement 9 in GRI 1: Foundation 2021, the organization shall notify GRI of the use of theGRI Standards. It is a mandatory step in reporting either in accordance with the GRI Standards orwith reference to the GRI Standards.

4. Should I notify GRI of the use of the Standards before or after
the report is published?
You need to notify GRI of the use of the GRI Standards after the report is published.

5. Can GRI verify that the report of my organization has been
written correctly in accordance with the GRI Standards?
As mentioned above, GRI does not verify, check, or pass judgment on the quality of the disclosures
within a report nor the process of preparing the disclosures. That responsibility remains with thereporting organization and its stakeholders.

Page 3 of 66. How often should my organization publish and submit
reports?
It is up for the reporting organization to decide on the frequency of reporting. As per section 5.1 in GRI
1: Foundation 2021, an organization is recommended, but not required, to align its sustainability
reporting with other statutory and regulatory reporting, in particular its financial reporting. This meansthat the organization should report the information for the same reporting period and for the samegroup of entities as covered in its financial reporting. The organization should also publish theinformation at the same time as its financial reporting, where this is possible.

7. The report of my organization is published in several
languages, which one should I register?
The report only needs to be submitted once, and it is up for the reporting organization to decide inwhich language should be submitted. Keep in mind that it is not possible from your end to include
both reports with the same publication year. Therefore, we would kindly ask that you register themunder different publication years and then inform us so that we could adjust it from our end.

8. My report won’t be made public and will only be available
internally. Should I still register it?
If that’s the case, please share your report and all information mentioned in the Requirement 9 of GRI
1: Foundation 2021 with us via reportregistration@globalreporting.org.

9. Can you give me some examples of reports that use theUniversal Standards 2021?
As of now GRI does not provide such information.

10.

Can you provide some data (for research) about

information in the registered reports?
As mentioned above, GRI does not provide any data on or from the registered reports.

11.

There used to be a database with publicly availablereports, but I can’t see it on the website anymore. What
happened?
it is no longer possible to access the Sustainability Disclosure Database. The reason for this is thatthe process for collection and registration of reports is a very labor-intensive process and we have

Page 4 of 6

been unable to keep up with the number of registrations. This resulted in an inaccurate decreasing
trend after 2017, which gave the wrong impression on the global adoption of the GRI Standards.
Limited resources have forced us to focus on our core work, which is setting standards forsustainability reporting.
If you would like to look into sustainability reports, we would recommend that you use the websites of
the reporting organizations directly.

12.

Why do I see a registered report in the system with thestatus ‘unverified’?
After entering the GRI Standards Report Registration System you may see a list of reports associatedwith your organization. It is possible that some will show the status ‘unverified’ while others will show
the status ‘verified’.
Please note that the status ‘verified’ does not mean that GRI has verified/approved/checked that yourreport is written in accordance with or with reference to the GRI Standards. It simply means that thereport has been submitted to GRI, and the person who submitted the report was able to do so on
behalf of the reporting organization. GRI does not verify, check, or pass judgment on the quality of thedisclosures within a report nor the process of preparing the disclosures. That responsibility remains
with the reporting organization and its stakeholders.
If you see the status ‘unverified’, it means that the respective report has been previously added to thesystem either by a third party (such as consultant) or by another contact of your organization, but itssubmission has not been verified on behalf of the reporting organization. All you need to do is to editthat report and verify it by re-submitting the report.

13.

How will I know that my report is registered?

After you click the 'Submit report' button, the notification process as required by GRI 1: Foundation
2021 is complete. You will then receive an automated message from us confirming your registration.

14.

Can a third party (a consultant) register a report onbehalf of a reporting organization?
The GRI Standards Report Registration System is designed to enable reporting organizations to notify
GRI of the use of the GRI Standards, as required by GRI 1: Foundation 2021. Information about theorganization and its report must be completed and verified either:•by an individual from the reporting organization or•

by a 3rd party representing the organization who is authorized to submit the GRI Standards
report on the organization's behalf. In addition, the 3rd party must include in the registration

Page 5 of 6an organization’s contact as additional contact and must inform the respective person aboutsharing their details with GRI for registration purposes.

15.

Can I update information about a report once I havecompleted the report registration process?
Once you submit a report and thus verify it, you cannot make any more edits to the submitted
information. Hence, please review and edit your registration before submitting. If you would like tomake any changes to your submission, please contact reportregistration@globalreporting.org.

16.

I forgot my password, what should I do?

GRI does not store your passwords, so please request a new password here. You will receive apassword reset email. Follow the instructions to change your password and retrieve your account. If
you face any difficulties with resetting your password, feel free to email us atreportregistration@globalreporting.org.

Page 6 of 6