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

GRI Sector Program – Revised list ofprioritized sectors
Approved by the GSSB on 19 November 2020

© GRI 2020

ContentsBackground................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Revised sector list....................................................................................................................................................... 3
Priority sectors............................................................................................................................................................ 3
Annex 1 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 5

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Background
In February 2019, the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) approved the GRI Sector
Program (Sector Program) to improve clarity and consistency in sustainability reporting. The aim of
the Sector Program is to develop GRI Sector Standards (Sector Standards) for 40 to 45 high-impact
sectors.
Three Sector Standards, that will be cover the agriculture, fishing, oil and gas, and coal sectors arealready underway.
The draft GSSB Work Program 2020-2022 proposed a total of 40 sectors categorised by fourpriorities groups. Following on from the exposure of the draft GSSB Work Program 2020-2022,
consideration of other stakeholder suggestions and learnings from the pilot projects, the Standards
Division has refined the proposed sectors covered by the Sector Program and is also proposing apriority list of sectors that should be the subject of projects next.

Revised sector list
The Standards Division proposes the 40 sectors listed in the Annex be considered by the Sector
Program.
While most sectors remain unaltered, some have been modified in their scope, others have been
merged and a small number of new ones have been added. The main objective of these changes is toaccommodate as many potential reporters as possible, while maintaining internal cohesion insideeach sector and keeping the total number of sectors within the original scope of the Program (40 to45 sectors).
As agreed in February 2020, the sectors follow ‘common denominator’ names (e.g. mining, oil andgas, agriculture) that are intended to be recognizable to all stakeholders. The Standards Division will
recommend a sector’s name and a key to link with established classification systems (GICS, ICB, andISIC) in the relevant Project Proposal.
The list is presented now to assist in planning the activities of the Sector Program and to help
communicating its objectives and engage with interested parties.
The 40 sectors, with a brief description of each one, is listed by priority group in the Annex. The list
will be reviewed periodically to reflect feedback received from stakeholders, including potentialchanges in the names and scope of individual sectors and the addition of new ones. The final
definition of each sector will be decided at the inception of the project, in consultation withstakeholders.

Priority sectors
Two pilot projects are currently under way, which cover the agriculture, fishing, oil, gas and coalsectors. The Standards Division is proposing a list of sectors to be prioritized next for thedevelopment of a Sector Standard.
The key criterion for prioritizing sectors is their sustainability impacts. This should reflect theseriousness of the impacts as well as the likelihood of their occurrence and take into account thePage 3 of 7

overall size of the sector, the sector’s distribution around the world and the number oforganizations from that sector that are in a position to use the GRI Standards.
Ranking sectors according to this criterion cannot be a completely objective exercise and theStandards Division has exercised its best judgement taking also into account the feedback received
from stakeholders.
In the feedback received on the GSSB Work Program for 2020-22, two organizations expressed
their preference to prioritize mining as the next sector standard, while food, construction,renewable energy, steel, construction materials, shipping, logistics and banking were each mentioned
once.
Group 1: Basic Materials and Needs, comprises the sectors that were considered to have the largest
sustainability impacts. The pilot projects were selected from this group.
A second criterion to define the order of sectors is the potential for exploiting synergies between
them. For example, the Sector Standard for mining is expected to share many topics with oil, gas,and coal; food and beverages can build upon the knowledge and contacts developed under
agriculture and fishing. The three standards in the financial services industry should be developed
together.
Taking into account the criteria mentioned above, the Standards Division proposes the following
sectors have Sector Standards development for them next:
1. Mining
2. Food
3. Textiles and apparel
4. Banking
5. Insurance
6. Asset management
7. Utilities
8. Renewable energy
9. Forestry
10. Metal processing
Sectors from the remaining groups will be prioritized in due course, following similar criteria.

Page 4 of 7Annex 1
Table 1. List of sectors

SectorDescription of activities

Group 1: Basic materials and needs
Oil and gas

Exploration and production of oil and gas; suppliers of equipment
and services to oil and gas fields; storage and transportation;refining and marketing of oil and gas products.

Coal

Exploration and extraction of coal; suppliers of equipment andservices to coal mines; storage and transportation; refining andmarketing of coal products

Agriculture and fishing

Agriculture, animal husbandry, aquaculture and fishing. Including
rubber but excluding hunting and forestry.

Mining

Exploration and extraction of minerals, except coal; suppliers ofequipment and services to mining; storage and transportation;refining and marketing of minerals.

Food

Manufacturing of food, beverages and tobacco.

Textiles and apparel

Manufacturing of textiles, apparel, footwear and accessories.

Banking

Commercial and investment banks; consumer finance; savings
institutions; mortgage finance; micro-finance institutions

Insurance

Life, non-life, reinsurance and pension funds.

Asset management

Asset management, custody, stock exchanges

Utilities

Electricity generation (except renewables), transmission anddistribution; gas utilities and distributors; water utilities andservices; waste management.

Renewable energy

Solar and wind project developers; biofuels producers; producers offuel cells and industrial batteries.

Forestry

Forestry and logging, production of pulp and paper.

Metal processing

Steel and aluminum production.

Page 5 of 7Group 2: Industrial
Construction materials

Production of cement, concrete, tiles, bricks, glass and otherconstruction materials, except steel and timber.

Aerospace and defense

Manufacturing of aircrafts and weapons.

Automotive

Production of road vehicles and auto parts, retail and repair of roadvehicles, car rental and leasing.

Construction

Construction of buildings, civil engineering and other construction
activities

Chemicals

Manufacturing of chemical products, including plastics andfertilizers-Machinery and equipment

Manufacturing of machines and equipment, including ships andtrains. Can include all heavy industry not specified elsewhere.

Pharmaceuticals

Manufacturing of pharmaceuticals products; research anddevelopment of idem, biotechnology.

Electronics

Manufacturing and design of electronic products, including
computers, mobile phones and their components; semiconductors.

Group 3: Transport, infrastructure and tourism
Media and communication

Telecom operators, media companies, printing industry.

Software

Software and related services.

Real estate

Real estate developers and services associated.

Transportation infrastructure

Operation of roads, railways, ports, airports, etc.

Shipping

Transportation services by water.

Trucking

Transportation services by road.

Airlines

Passenger airlines.

Trading, distribution andlogistics

Freight transportation by rail or plane, postal and other logisticalservices, storage services, trading services.

PackagingContainers and packaging

Group 4: Other services and light manufacturing
Educational services

Education services at all levels, including online education.

Page 6 of 7Household durables

Manufacturing of furniture, household appliances, toys, sporting
goods and similar. Can include all light manufacturing not specified
elsewhere.

Managed health care

Health care services, including veterinary.

Medical equipment andservices

Manufacturing of medical supplies and equipment.

RetailAll retail services except automotive. Repair services.

Security services andcorrectional facilities

Provision of security services, management of correctional facilities.

Restaurants

Restaurants, bars and cafes; catering services.

Commercial services

Professional services, including lawyers, accountants, consultants,advertising and marketing; business process outsourcing.

Non-profit organizations

Non-governmental organizations, foundations, professional andcivic associations, charities.

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