gssbsecretariat@globalreporting.org

GSSB summary of the virtual meeting
held on 18-19 October 2022
Approved by the GSSB on 15 December 2022

© GRI 2022

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Contents
Participants.............................................................................................................................................. 3
List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ 3
Decisions and action items ..................................................................................................................... 4
Decisions ......................................................................................................................................... 4
Session 1.5: Welcome ............................................................................................................................ 4
Session 1.6: Discussion – Draft GSSB Work Program 2023-2025 ........................................................ 4
Session 1.8: Worker Info Exchange presentation on algorithm transparency and the GRI Standards .. 6
Session 1.11: International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) presentation ........... 7
Session 1.14: Presentation International Sustainability Board (ISSB) ‘Collaboration between ISSB and
GSSB’...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Session 2.2: Update on Sector Program ................................................................................................ 8
Session 2.4: Continuation discussion draft Work Program 2023-2025 .................................................. 9
Session 2.6: International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) ‘Sustainability Working
Group Update’ ....................................................................................................................................... 11
Session 2.8: International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) ‘Sustainability
Assurance Project Update .................................................................................................................... 11
Session 2.10: Review discussions draft Work Program 2023-2025 and the next steps ...................... 12
Session 2.11: Summary and close of public meeting ........................................................................... 12Page 2 of 13

2Participants

3

Present:

4

5

6

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

Joseph Martin

Business enterprise

Anna Nefedova

Mediating institution

Jennifer Princing

Business enterprise

Corli le RouxMediating institution

Gangaa Charan SharmaBusiness enterprise

Kenton Swift

Civil society organization

Michel Washer

Business enterprise

Apologies:
Name

Constituency

Kim Schumacher

Civil society organization

In attendance from GRI:
Name

Position

Bastian Buck

Chief of Standards

Mia d’Adhemar

Head Sector Program

Laura Espinach

Head of Technical Development

Harold Pauwels

Director Standards

Miguel Perez Luden͂aResearch Lead Sector Program

List of abbreviations
GRI
GSSB
SD
WG
TC
PCP

Global Reporting Initiative
Global Sustainability Standards Board
Standards Division
Working group
Technical committee
Public comment period

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Decisions and action items

8

Decisions

9

The GSSB resolved to approve the following:

10

GSSB Decision 2022.19 Item 01 – Draft summary of the GSSB meeting held on 15 September 2022

11

GSSB Decision 2022.20 Item 03 – GRI Sector Standards Project for Financial Services – Draft

12

project proposal

13

GSSB Decision 2022.21 Item 04 – GRI Sector Program - List of prioritized sectors

14

Session 1.5: Welcome

15

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

16

welcomed the GSSB. The Chair presented an overview of the meeting agenda. A quorum was17established with the following items being presented and approved during the meeting:18

Item 01 – Draft summary of the GSSB meeting held on 15 September 2022

19

Item 03 – GRI Sector Standards Project for Financial Services – Draft project proposal

20

Item 04 – GRI Sector Program – List of prioritized sectors

21

Session 1.6: Discussion – Draft GSSB

22Work Program 2023-2025

23

Chief of Standards, Bastian Buck, along with Mia d’Adhemar, Head of Sector Program, Harold

24

Pauwels, Director Standards, and Laura Espinach, Head of Technical Development, presented the25

draft GSSB Work Program:

26•

The draft Work Program will be submitted to the GSSB for approval in November, followed by27

public consultation. The GRI Board and Stakeholder Council are invited to provide feedback.

28

Stakeholders can indicate preferences for the review sequence of existing Standards and suggest

29

new topics. The GSSB will confirm the final Work Program in early 2023.

30•

The discussion paper lists priorities for the next three years, including the revision of existing

31

Standards; the development of new Standards; the research program for all Standards; the32

translations of new and revised Standards; and the joint standards development

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projects/programs with other organizations like IFRS/ISSB and EFRAG and collaborations like

34

with OECD and ILO.

35•

Other items included in the draft Work Program for 2023 are the design and testing of a new

36

process to preserve the linkage between Sector and Topic Standards and a research project on

37

the public sector.

38•

An assessment regarding the potential to expand the number of Sector Standards developed

39
40

simultaneously will be made in 2024.
The meeting was opened for questions and clarification:•

41

Members of the GSSB once again voiced support for combining the standards for utilities and42

renewables while understanding the resource constraints on staffing. The GSSB asked about

43

the possibility of accelerating work on that sector, overall staff capacity, and whether the44

academic realm was being considered for hiring talent. Further questions were about alignment

45

with the various other standards.
•

SD responded that it recognized the need to accelerate work on utilities and renewables, but
this requires ongoing management. GRI has the financial means to support the projects in termsof staffing, but finding the right talent is difficult due to the scarcity of personnel and competition
with other organizations.

•

In terms of standards alignment, GRI is collaborating with ISSB and EFRAG. GRI Standards
form part of some regulatory endeavors, receiving more requests for collaboration now, so
resources must be used strategically. GRI can impact regional or country development ofstandards.

•

Work done to date in the Sector Program has been utilized in other processes, resulting in alevel of alignment. However, the focus is on Topic Standards, with Sector Standards to follow.

46

Draft Work Program 2023-2025 overview for GRI Topic Standards update:47•

The plan is that by the end of 2025, all existing Topic Standards will be revised or be under48

revision. The ambition is to increase the number of projects running in parallel from three projects

49

in 2023 to ten projects in 2025 (both revision and new topics). The development of a Topic

50

Standard takes about 24 months to complete.

51•

The project schedule for 2023 is as follows: the Biodiversity PCP starts in December 2022; the52

Labor revision program started in Q3 2022 with Advisory Group recruitment ongoing and involving53

the revision of ten topics such as Employment, Labor/Management Relations, Child Labor, and54

Diversity and Equal Opportunity; the Climate change draft proposal will be submitted to the GSSB

55

in December 2022 and includes the Topic Standards Energy, Emissions, and Economic

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Performance; and Critical incident management project marked as GSSB priority for a new Topic

57

Standard that will commence once resources become available.

58
59

•

Based on the initial research by the SD, various topics could fall within the scope of the economic
impacts project. These topics could include impacts of organizations on local labor markets,

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poverty alleviation, monetary flows into local economies, community investment, impacts of61

business models on securing livelihoods, and more.

62

The meeting was opened for further discussion and questions:•

63

The GSSB suggested adding GRI 305: Emissions to the spills and leaks standard, and that 308

64

and 414 be combined (supplier social/environmental assessment). Diversity and inclusion

65

should be given more prominence as it is a key performance indicator. The metal sector is66

driving responsible sourcing, seeking OECD alignment, especially regarding conflict affected

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areas – how does this fit with GRI topic standards, and to what extent will GRI reference

68

OECD? The GSSB raised some concern over the content of the digitalization and circular69

economy standard and whether other standards can be updated to reflect the latest

70

developments in these areas. GSSB asked about the alignment of GRI programs and71

collaboration with ISSB on climate change and how the GRI process is aligned. GSSB asked

72

about the naming/titles of standards and how this was being reviewed. The final points were that73

in the revised standards, value chain impacts were part of these revisions, and more attention74

was to be given to social impact reporting.
•75

The SD responded that GRI is considering how OECD alignment is being handled and what76

elements need to be referenced, especially due diligence on conflict areas and mining. GRI has

77

its own due diligence requirement. In terms of collaboration with ISSB, not clear where ISSB will78

focus next. There are opportunities to align Topic and Sector Standards work. GRI has done79

some groundwork on water and occupational health and can build on that with ISSB. More80

information will be in the upcoming ISSB presentation. On the naming/titles of standards, all81

titles are subject to review with input from experts, public comment, and research into the scope82of the topic.

83

Session 1.8: Worker Info Exchange

84

presentation on algorithm

85

transparency and the GRI Standards

86James Farrar, Founder and Director of the Worker Info Exchange, presented ‘Algorithm transparency

87

and the GRI Standards’:

88

•

89

Algorithmic transparency can mitigate negative impacts on workers resulting from the nature ofalgorithmic management in the ‘gig’ economy.

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•

91

In response to questions from GSSB members, it was noted that algorithmic management isscaling across sectors such as transport, logistics, and retail.

•The GSSB should, therefore, consider the impacts of algorithmic management and its
implications for workers, particularly in the revision of Labor-related Topic Standards.

92

Session 1.11: International Public

93

Sector Accounting Standards Board

94(IPSASB) presentation

95

Ian Carruthers, Chairman IPSASB, presented on the IPSASB and the advancement of Public Sector

96

Sustainability Reporting:

97•

IPSASB is at the end of the current five-year strategy with an increased public sector focus,

98

issuing new standards in line with a global shift in financial reporting from cash to accrual;

99

IPSASD usage and influence have subsequently increased.

100•

Some of the proposed actions for 2023 include: developing a public sector sustainability

101

community, enhancing education and competency training, influencing the global debate on

102

standard setting, and building collaborative relationships with GRI and ISSB.

103

Session 1.14: Presentation

104

International Sustainability Board

105(ISSB) ‘Collaboration between ISSB

106

and GSSB’107

Emmanuel Faber and Sue Lloyd, Chair and Vice Chair of the International Sustainability Standards

108

Board (ISSB) respectively, presented on upcoming and potential collaboration between the ISSB and

109

GSSB:

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•

111
112

the impact pillar that provides the basis for collaboration and alignment.
•

113
114

The ISSB focuses on sustainability reporting’s financial pillar of materiality, while GRI focuses on
ISSB relies on GRI’s wealth of experience and strong presence in the Global South as key to the
dialogue that ISSB wants to develop.

•

The ISSB foresees the publication of S1: General Requirements and S2: Climate Disclosures in

1152023. In addition to technical collaboration on these, future work can be done on digital taxonomy

116

while ensuring coherence and interoperability between the ISSB and GRI Standards. Other

117

collaboration includes working on advocacy and creating joint educational material and platforms.

118

Session 2.2: Update on Sector

119

Program120

Mia d’Adhemar and Miguel Perez Luden͂a from the Standards Division presented an update on the121

GRI Sector Program for input to the GSSB Work Program:

122

•

123
124

The Sector Standards for banking, insurance, and capital markets will be developed under one
financial services project.

•

Although they share many sustainability impacts that can be reported consistently, they also

125

operate under different regulatory regimes so that they will have individual Standards. The

126

proposed scopes for the sectors are as follows:127oBanking includes consumer and mortgage finance, and payment systems.

128oInsurance includes life and non-life insurance, reinsurance, and intermediaries.

129oCapital markets include asset owners, asset managers, and service providers.

130

•

131

The following are responses from the SD to GSSB questions regarding the draft project proposal:

132•

Responding to a question, the SD noted that investment banks are part of capital markets.

133•

The SD explained that each TC would examine the impacts of the sector but that the intention is

The proposed timeline to complete the project is approximately thirty months.

134

that a collective forum would consider the appropriate way to represent and report on the impacts

135

these sectors are linked to via their capital provision activities.

136

•

137
138

The SD is to consider the sector overlaps, where standards will diverge, and developments suchas financial technology.

•

The GSSB suggested that the proposed sector of capital markets includes types of organizations

139

with potentially different business models and sustainability impacts. Among these organizations,140

real estate investment trusts (REITs) were identified as substantially different from other141

organizations in this sector. In light of these comments, the SD will review the boundary between

142

the capital markets and real estate sectors.

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The GSSB approved the project proposal. Item 03 – GRI Sector Standards Project for Financial

144

Services – Draft project proposal

145•

Minor modifications were made to the Sector Standards priority list:o146Group 1: Basic materials and needs – the word ‘aquaculture’ was added to the full title of147

GRI 13. The word ‘beverages’ was added to ‘Food and beverages’. The description of148‘Textiles and apparel’ now includes manufacturing and retail. The name ‘Asset

149

management’ was changed to ‘Capital markets’. ‘Metal processing’ includes smelting and150

other metals.
o

151
152
153

Group 3: Transport, infrastructure, and tourism – includes ‘Hotels’ that was erroneously
left off the list.

•

These revisions do not reflect the potential combination of the utilities and renewable energy

154

sectors, which still require more background research. Despite being referenced in the Work155

Program, a dedicated public sector Standard is not included in the list.

156

The following are responses from the SD to GSSB questions on the Sector Standards priority list:

157•

A suggestion was given to modify the name of ‘Hotels’ to ‘Hotels and accommodation facilities’.

•

The SD responded that more research would be done into the boundaries of the software sector

158

to be able to categorize new-age enterprises, for example, Uber or Airbnb, with sectors such as

159

transportation or accommodation that overlap with software.

160

•

161

The GSSB approved the updated priority list. Item 04 – GRI Sector Program – List of prioritized

162

sectors

163

Session 2.4: Continuation discussion

164

draft Work Program 2023-2025

165

Bastian Buck, Mia d’Adhemar, Laura Espinach, and Harold Pauwels from the Standards Division

166

continued the discussion of the draft GSSB Work Program from 2023-2025:

167•

SD responded that theme parks and cruise ships (Group 3) would be part of the Tourism sector.

The GSSB will identify priorities for developing new Topic Standards based on stakeholder

168

feedback from public consultations, the Sector Program, technical committees and working

169groups, external stakeholder presentations, and research by the SD.

170•

One new topic per year is realistic in the period 2023-2025.

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•

Gaps identified in the Sector Standards are a key input source for Topic Standards development,

172

including topics with no dedicated standard found in multiple sectors that are widely applicable but

173with no standard, or through input from TCs and WGs.

174

•

175

Stakeholder input presentations to the GSSB during monthly meetings are key input sources for
Topic Standard development. These include:o176

Anti-corruption, Children’s rights, Animal welfare, International Humanitarian Law (IHL),

177

Living wage and living income, Land acquisition, Involuntary settlement and land rights,

178

and Digitization and the impact of artificial intelligence.

179

•

180
181

In terms of revisions beginning in the 2023-2025 period, the Labor-related standards project
began in September 2022. The Climate-related standards project will begin in December 2022.

•

GSSB members asked questions about the interlinkages of different topics. For example, SD

182

noted that Adaptation and resilience, which have appeared in previous Sector Standards, are183

currently being researched by the SD as potential topics.

184•

SD discussed cooperation with partners in the sustainability landscape. It was noted that the185

GSSB would continue to engage with partners like EFRAG, IFRS/ISSB, OECD, and ILO as part186of the Work Program 2023-2025.

187

•

188
189

The timeline for cooperation with ISSB is still to be defined, but cooperation with EFRAG isreaching a critical juncture and will require more direct communication with the GSSB.

•

190

GRI’s commitment to linkages with other standards and the services it can provide as guidance toreporters are crucial to its relevance beyond regulatory requirements.

191

The next element under discussion for input to the GSSB is the research division, which works to

192

support the Sector Standards, Topic Standards, and input for cooperation with partners.

193•

In 2022, two topics were researched for input to the work program:

194oDigitalization, data protection, and privacy;

195oPublic policy and anti-competitive behavior (due to stakeholder feedback to the revision of196

GRI 206: Anti-competitive Behavior, GRI 415: Public Policy, and the related GRI 205:

197

Anti-corruption).

198

•

199

For 2023, a new research project will be included in the Sector Program to understand existing
practices and the structure of sustainability reporting in the public sector.

200

The next element for input to the work program is the translation and publication of GRI Standards.

201

•

202
203

English is the authoritative language of the Standards. However, translations in 10 languages
account for 47% of the downloads on the website.

•

Additional considerations for the work program include monitoring the use of GRI Standards, the204development of Standards interpretations, the development of FAQs and guidance materials, and205

the development of a digital taxonomy.

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•

Another key area of interest for the GSSB is how updates to Topic Standards are reflected in

207

Sector Standards. In all cases, these changes will be reflected as updates to the Sector

208

Standards over time.

209

Session 2.6: International Ethics

210

Standards Board for Accountants

211(IESBA) ‘Sustainability Working

212

Group Update’

213

Guest speaker Mark Babington, IESBA Member and Sustainability Working Group Chair, presented214

the IESBA and ‘Sustainability Working Group Update’:215•

The IESBA is principles-based and stimulates thinking about ethical conduct. It is developing a

216

strategic vision to guide standard-setting actions concerning sustainability reporting and217

assurance. Sustainability is a key area of focus

218
219

•

The IESBA commits to ongoing coordination with IOSCO, IAASB, and ISSB with targeted
outreach to GRI, IFIAR, EC, investors, and firms.

220

Session 2.8: International Auditing221

and Assurance Standards Board

222(IAASB) ‘Sustainability Assurance

223

Project Update

224

IAASB Chair Tom Seidenstein, and Principal, Claire Grayston, presented the ‘Sustainability

225

Assurance Project Update’:Page 11 of 13

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•

227
228

In response to demand, the IAASB is fast-tracking a project on sustainability assurance with arobust due process to ensure high quality.

•

Global outreach is a component of due process that requires formal engagement with the229

Consultative Advisory Group (CAG) and National Standard Setters (NSS), regulators, oversight230

bodies, global standard setters, Professional Accountancy Organizations (PAOs), and231

stakeholder groups.

232•

There is an increasing demand for reliable sustainability information and mandatory assurance.

233

Existing IAASB Standards lack specificity, and action is needed to address a standard for234

sustainability assurance with a vision to develop and build a suite of standards.

235

Session 2.10: Review discussions

236

draft Work Program 2023-2025 and237

the next steps

238

Final points were raised regarding the next steps of the draft GSSB Work Program from 2023-2025:

239

•

240
241

Considerations for the Sector Program are the adequate scaling of the team, prioritizing sectors
appropriately, and the ability to work on multiple standards projects in parallel.

•

242

Challenges for Topic Standards include the revision of existing standards and the selection of
new topics. This depends on capacity and the sequence of the work.

•

In addition to investing in digital transformation, further alignment with other standards settersneeds to be explored through project sequencing, due diligence, and promoting the use of GRI
Standards

243
244

•

There is general agreement to build on the digital capabilities of GRI. Work should be carried out
with a steady momentum without the need to rush the process.

245

Session 2.11: Summary and close of246

public meeting

247

Bastian Buck thanked the GSSB for the opportunity to meet in-person. The Independent

248

Appointments Committee (IAC) is to consider the reappointment and rotation of the board. It was

249

proposed that current GSSB members continue to serve into the first quarter of next year.

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The Chair concluded by adding her thanks to all who contributed to a successful in-person meeting.

251

No other business was raised, and the Chair closed the public meeting.

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