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

GSSB summary of the virtual meeting
held on 28 April 2022
Approved by the GSSB on 19 May 2022

© GRI 2022

1Contents

2
Participants.............................................................................................................................................. 3
List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ 3
Decisions and action items ..................................................................................................................... 3
Session 1: Welcome ............................................................................................................................... 4
Session 2: Standards Division update .................................................................................................... 4
Session 3: UNICEF ................................................................................................................................. 5
Session 4: Any other business and close of the meeting ....................................................................... 6

Page 2 of 63Participants

4Present:

567

Name

Constituency

Judy Kuszewski

Chair

Robyn Leeson

Vice-Chair

Loredana Carta

LaborPeter Colley

Labor

Giulia Genuardi

Business enterprise

Evan Harvey

Investment institution

Vincent Kong

Business enterprise

Anna Nefedova

Mediating institution

Jennifer Princing

Business enterprise

Corli le Roux (joined at 1.35)

Mediating institution

Gangaa Charan SharmaBusiness enterprise

Kenton Swift

Civil society organization

Michel Washer

Business enterprise

Erik Nyman

Guest speaker UNICEF

Apologies:
NameConstituency

Joseph Martin

Business enterprise

Kim Schumacher

Civil society organization

In attendance from GRI:NamePosition

Bastian Buck

Chief of Standards

Harold Pauwels

Director Standards

Gillian Balaban

Sr. Coordinator Governance Relations

List of abbreviations
GRIGSSB
SDTC

Global Reporting Initiative
Global Sustainability Standards BoardStandards Division
Technical committee

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8Decisions and action items

9Decisions

10The GSSB resolved to approve the following:

11

GSSB Decision 2022.09 Item 01 – Draft summary GSSB meeting - 17 March 2022

12Session 1: Welcome

13The Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) Chair Judy Kuszewski (henceforth the Chair)

14

welcomed the GSSB. The Chair presented an overview of the meeting agenda. The GSSB was

15

presented with the following items for approval:

16

Item 01 – Draft summary GSSB meeting - 17 March 2022

17Session 2: Standards Division update

18

The Chief of Standards, Bastian Buck, presented the following points for consideration:

19

•

20
21

Regarding the ongoing work by the Sector Program, the GRI Standard for the Coal Sector waspublished in Q1.

•An approval vote for the GRI Standard for the agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing sectors was

22

originally scheduled for this meeting but needed more time for editorial review. The GSSB should

23

receive a copy of the Standard in the following week.

24•The mining sector project is moving along at a healthy pace. Two working group meetings were25

held, and the screening for likely material topics is almost complete. There are ongoing

26

discussions about the addition of artisanal and small-scale mining, cybersecurity, and supply

27

chain due diligence. Work is progressing in sub-group discussions about the project scope,28

direction of impact, and reporting requirements. There will be a subsequent update in June.

29•The biodiversity topic project has held two TC meetings and six smaller task group sessions to30

develop different parts of the draft. A first consolidated draft of disclosures will be discussed with31

the group in the week of 2 May.

32

•For the labor related standards revision program, we have confirmation from the labor

33

constituency. We have held conversations with the International Organization of Employers (IOE)

34

to represent employers. After conversations, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has35

confirmed participation. A project proposal will be discussed in the June meeting.

3637

•

Download statistics for Q1 are in line with the recent growth pattern and highlight the importantwork done by the GSSB in setting the GRI Standards.

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38•

A total of 237,000 downloads in Q1 indicate a high level of engagement with the content. Growth39

was strongest in Asia, with an increase of 42,000 downloads. The GRI 12: Coal Sector 2022 has

40

been downloaded over 1,000 times. The marketing of our products has driven significant traffic.

41•

There have been advancements in recruiting with new colleagues joining the team, while a few

42

have left the SD. We will provide a full update before the summer break. We currently have 20

43people and are looking to grow the SD to 30 people as per budget allocation.

44

Session 3: UNICEF

45

The Chair welcomed guest speaker Eric Nyman, UNICEF, to present the following points on child46

rights and business as input to the GSSB work program 2023-2025:

47•UNICEF has been working specifically on children’s rights and how they relate to business. It48

looks at aspects such as parents' working conditions, workplace breastfeeding, online safety, and49

community and environment. Land use, relocation of communities, access to schools, and50

healthcare are other important issues.

51•A child rights lens on sustainability can help understand root causes and the impacts of business.

52•

Why children? Children are marginalized and vulnerable and therefore disproportionally impacted;

53

child labor is on the rise; two-thirds of children suffer physical abuse, 260 million are not in school;

54

while physical stunting impacts 150 million children.

55

•56
57

Stunting results from early life malnutrition and has high healthcare costs. Malnutrition costs theglobal economy $3.5 trillion per year. Universal breastfeeding alone can save $300 billion.

•Family-friendly policies look at three areas, namely time, resources, and services. For example,

58

decent work for parents, sick or family leave, workplace breastfeeding, flexible hours, decent

59

wages, child benefits, and access to affordable childcare. These issues are particularly important60

in developing countries.

61

•

62
63

shows the importance of using a child rights lens.
•

6465

•
•

From its own research, UNICEF found that most companies surveyed used GRI Standards, which
led to UNICEF and GRI working together.

•70
71

UNICEF has evidence, guidance, and tools that map to GRI and can help inform child rights
disclosure.

68
69

Children and digital businesses – are organizations practicing responsible digital marketing
processes to protect children from online abuse, child sex content, and data privacy.

66
67

Retention of female workers is a major issue – the example of the clothing and garment industry

UNICEF Working Paper (2012) – the reporting on child rights has not progressed since due to alack of balance, not systematic, not holistic, and often focuses only on positive reporting.

•A new study is coming out in June 2022 and will be shared with GRI.

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•In conclusion, the Global Child Forum annual benchmark on children’s rights shows what leading

73

companies are doing well and not so well https://www.globalchildforum.org/internal-report/global-74

benchmark-report-2021/.

75

Session 4: Any other business and76

close of the meeting77

No other business was raised, and the Chair closed the public meeting at 13.49 Central European

78

Time (CET).

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