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

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

4 October 2022

Meeting18 October 2022

Description

This document presents the summary of the GSSB virtual meeting held on 15
September 2022.

This document has been prepared by the GRI Standards Division and is made available to observers
at meetings of the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB). It does not represent an official
position of the GSSB. Board positions are set out in the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards. TheGSSB is the independent standard setting body of GRI. For more information visit
www.globalreporting.org.

© GRI 2022

1ContentsParticipants ............................................................................................................................................. 3
List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ 3
Decisions and action items ..................................................................................................................... 4
Session 1: Welcome ............................................................................................................................... 4
Session 2: Standards Division update .................................................................................................... 4
Session 3: Update Labor-related Standards ........................................................................................... 5
Session 4: Update Work Program 2023-2025 ........................................................................................ 6Session 5: Presentation by IFC on Transparency related to Land Acquisition and Resettlement ......... 7
Session 6: Any other business and close of the meeting ....................................................................... 8Page 2 of 8

2Participants

3

Present:

456NameConstituency

Judy Kuszewski
Robyn LeesonPeter Colley
Giulia Genuardi
Evan Harvey
Vincent Kong (joined late)
Anna Nefedova
Corli le Roux
Gangaa Charan Sharma
Kim Schumacher
Kenton Swift
Michel Washer

Chair
Vice-Chair
Labor
Business enterprise
Investment institution
Business enterpriseMediating institution
Mediating institution
Business enterprise
Civil society organization
Civil society organization
Business enterprise

Apologies:
NameConstituency

Loredana Carta
Joseph Martin
Jennifer Princing

Labor
Business enterpriseBusiness enterprise

In attendance from GRI:
NamePosition

Bastian Buck

Chief of Standards

Harold Pauwels

Director Standards

Mia d’Adhemar

Head Sector Program

Gillian Balaban

Sr. Coordinator Governance Relations

List of abbreviations
GRIGSSB
SD
WG
TC
PCP

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

Page 3 of 87Decisions and action items

8Decisions

9The GSSB resolved to approve the following:

10GSSB Decision 2022.16 Item 01 – Draft summary of the GSSB meeting held on 7 July 2022

11GSSB Decision 2022.17 Item 02 – GRI Topic Standard Project for Labor - Proposed members for12

the technical committee

13GSSB Decision 2022.18 Item 03 – GRI Topic Standards Project for Labor - Terms of Reference

14Session 1: Welcome

15

The Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) Vice-Chair Robyn Leeson (henceforth the Vice-

16Chair) welcomed the GSSB. The Vice-Chair presented an overview of the meeting agenda. A quorum17was unavailable at this point; approval of the following items moved to the end of Session 3:

18

Item 01 – Draft summary of the GSSB meeting held on 7 July 2022

19

Item 02 – GRI Topic Standard Project for Labor - Proposed members for the technical committee

20

Item 03 – GRI Topic Standards Project for Labor - Terms of Reference

21

Session 2: Standards Division update22

Chief of Standards, Bastian Buck, provided the following update on the work of the Standards

23

Division:24•An overview of the main activities of the Sector Program: Oil and Gas / Coal / Agriculture,25

Aquaculture, and Fishing – completed pilot projects in the public domain, all available in English

26

on the GRI website and now working on translation; Mining – content development is underway;

27

Food and Beverages / Textiles and Apparel – currently in a holding pattern, ramping capacity on

28

the staffing side; Banks / Insurance / Asset Management – draft project proposal preparation is29underway.

30

•

31
32

Sector Standard Project for Mining status update – exposure draft to be finalized by the end of theyear; public comment activities planned for Q1 2023.

•An overview of Topic Standard revisions, both ongoing and upcoming. Ongoing revisions in 2022

33of the following standards: 304 Biodiversity; 202 Market Presence; 401 Employment; 40234Labor/Management Relations; 404 Training and Education; 405 Diversity and Equal Opportunity;

35

407 Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining; 408 Child Labor; 409 Forced andPage 4 of 8

36Compulsory Labor; 414 Supplier Social Assessment. Upcoming revisions in 2022 are: 302

37Energy; 305 Emissions; XXX Climate change; 201 Economic Performance.

38•GRI Topic Standard Project for Biodiversity status update: 4th TC meeting held 14 June 2022; 5th39

TC meeting 12 September 2022; final TC meeting (fatal flaw check) to be held 25 October 2022;

40

The revision work is scheduled for GSSB approval of the Exposure draft 17 November 2022. A

41launch event for the exposure draft will be for the week of COP 15 Montreal in December. Public

42

exposure period from December 2022 – February 2023. In cooperation with GRI Regional hubs,

43

Global Q & A workshop sessions will be held as part of the PCP Jan/Feb 2023.

44•

GRI Topic Standard Project for Labor status update: GSSB approved the project proposal on 745

July 2022; approval of nominated TC members scheduled for the present meeting; press release46

scheduled for the week of 19 September 2022; a call for experts to the Advisory Group issued in47

September; the 1st TC meeting takes place 22 September and the 2nd TC meeting 1 December.

48•GRI Topic Standard Project for Climate Change status update: Climate topic is prioritized in49

GSSB Work Program 2020-2022; Margherita Barbieri joined GRI as of 1 September 2022 and will50

lead the project; the preliminary stage consists of stakeholder engagement and network building,51

and input from the research team; draft project proposal to be submitted for GSSB approval in the52

December meeting. There are ongoing discussions on how the GRI project can be aligned

53

withthe climate work of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and EFRAG.

54

Session 3: Update Labor-related

55

Standards

56

Director Standards, Harold Pauwels, provided the following update on the Labor-related Standards:

57•The project proposal was approved in July by the GSSB. An invitation was sent to the GRI Board

58

and Stakeholder Council to comment on the proposal – no comments were received. The final

59

approval of the unchanged project proposal is reserved for this meeting.

60•The TC comprises two representatives nominated by the International Labour Organization (ILO),

61

two representatives of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the Global Unions

62

Federations (GUFs), and two employer representatives from the International Organization of63

Employers (IOE).

64
65

•

A call for experts to be appointed to the Advisory Group (AG) to support the TC in the content
development process will be launched with specific provisions during the week of 19 September.

66
67
68

Page 5 of 8

69

GSSB Vice-Chair, Robyn Leeson, presented the following items for approval:

70•Draft summary of the GSSB meeting held on 7 July 2022

71

•GRI Topic Standard Project for Labor – Proposed members for the Technical Committee

72•

GRI Topic Standard Project for Labor – Project Proposal

73•The GSSB approves all three items (see GSSB Decision 2022.16, GSSB Decision 2022.17, and74

GSSB Decision 2022.18).

75

Session 4: Update Work Program

76

2023-2025

77

Director Standards, Harold Pauwels, provided the update for the new GSSB Work Program:78•The draft Work Program is being prepared for the GSSB meeting in October.

79•Based on GSSB feedback, the draft Work Program will be amended and shared for approval80
81

in November to submit for public consultation.
•82
83

GRI Board to provide feedback and comments and suggest new topics.
•84
85

The final Work Program will be submitted to the GSSB meeting in February 2023 for finalapproval.

•86
87

At the end of November, a public consultation period will commence with Stakeholder Council andThe new Work Program will be based on internal and external stakeholder feedback to the GSSB,GSSB public consultations, and Sector Program recommendations to the GSSB.

•The Work Program covers the GSSB list of priority projects for the next three years, which include88

the review of existing Topic Standards, the development of new Topic Standards, the89

development of new Sector Standards, a research program for both Sector and Topic Standards,
a revision process with linkages between Sector and Topic Standards and all translations.

90

•91
92
93

As part of the Work Program agreement with the GSSB, cooperation with key stakeholders likethe ISSB and EFRAG will be included.

•

GSSB’s strategic decision will set the pace to develop Sector Standards for at least 40 priority
sectors with a periodic review cycle and initiate new Topic Standards development.

94
95

Head Sector Program, Mia d’Adhemar, presented the Sector Standards work pipeline as follows:

96•The basis for the Sector Standards Work Program will be the approved priority list.

97•

The work will be carried out sequentially, considering refinements to the scopes of sectors

98

and of Sector Standards already developed. Minor refinements to the scope of the sectors

99

listed will be incorporated into the prioritization list at key moments.

Page 6 of 8

100

•

It is estimated that four Sector Standards projects can be delivered simultaneously once the101

sector team is fully resourced. In the near term, the three financial sectors planned to be

102

delivered as a single project will enable the simultaneous development of six Standards. The

103

organizational structure will be reconsidered towards the end of 2023 and the beginning of104

2024 to identify opportunities to scale the team further to deliver more projects. Current

105

planning enables the commencement of all Group 1 sectors by the end of the current Work106

Program.

107

Harold Pauwels provided the following points on the Topic Standards and Research work

108

pipeline:

109•The Biodiversity project is ongoing. The Labor project will start based on the approval

110

during this meeting. The Climate Change project is in the draft proposal for approval in

111

December.

112

•

113
114

publication.
•115
116

Biodiversity will be published in 2023, and the balance of the projects will continue to later

The aim is to have 31 Topic Standards under revision by the end of the 2023-2025 Work
Program.

•Research for Sector Standards continues. Research for Topic Standards development is117

to be discussed in line with the Work Program. New topics requiring research include

118

Data Protection and Privacy, Public Policy, and Anti-competitive Behavior.

119

•120
121

The GSSB will identify priorities for developing new Topic Standards basedon stakeholder feedback from various sources.

•Stakeholder input presentations to the GSSB are being reviewed and analyzed. These122

will be presented as input to the Work Program for further discussion in the October123

meeting.

124

Session 5: Presentation by IFC on125

Transparency related to Land

126

Acquisition and Resettlement127The Chair welcomed guest speaker Diana Baird, Global Social Lead at the International Finance128

Corporation (IFC), to present the following points on land acquisition and resettlement as inputs to the129

GSSB work program 2023-2025:

Page 7 of 8

130

•

131
132

IFC Performance Standard 5: Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement (PS5) is a key
reference in GRI 11 and GRI 12, and is expected to be in GRI 14.

•PS5 applies to cases where land is acquired through expropriation or compulsory legal

133

procedures, lands acquired through negotiations with owners where expropriation is possible, and134

involuntary restrictions on land use or access to resources for local communities.

135

•

136
137

Project design, the first key objective of PS5, includes exploring feasible alternative project
designs and considering impacts on the poor and vulnerable.

•PS5 also includes community engagement and grievance mechanisms as a part of its guidance,

138

with reference to decision-making processes, transparent disclosures, and additional provisions

139

for consultations with indigenous peoples.

140

•

141
142

Community engagement guidelines follow PS1: Assessment and Management of Environmentaland Social Risks and Impacts.

•PS5’s recommendations on resettlement and livelihood restoration planning include conducting a143

census, developing a resettlement framework with room for expansion, and monitoring

144

implementation.

145•IFC also outlined key aspects of displacement, compensation, and benefits, such as types

146

including landowners and land users, their economic dimensions, and the physical ramifications

147

of resettlement.

148

•149
150

Distinctions and special considerations are drawn between economically and physically displaced
persons.

•Private sector responsibilities under government-managed resettlement require active

151

collaboration among stakeholders, livelihood restoration planning, and additional measures to152target gaps, including cash compensation and evaluation of the process.

153•Further information was provided about potential indicators, including the number of persons

154

displaced, the amount of land impacted, and the number of displaced persons with livelihoods

155

restored.

156

Session 6: Any other business and157

close of the meeting
No other business was raised, and the Chair closed the public meeting at 15.42 Central European
Time (CET).

Page 8 of 8