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

GSSB summary of the virtual meeting
held on 16 June 2022
Approved by the GSSB on 7 July 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: Australian Red Cross presentation ....................................................................................... 5
Session 4: Any other business and close of the meeting ....................................................................... 6

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3Participants

4Present:

567

Name

Constituency

Judy Kuszewski

Chair

Robyn Leeson

Vice-ChairPeter Colley

Labor

Giulia Genuardi

Business enterprise

Evan Harvey

Investment institution

Anna Nefedova (joined at 13.30)

Mediating institution

Jennifer Princing

Business enterprise

Gangaa Charan SharmaBusiness enterprise

Kim Schumacher

Civil society organization

Michel Washer

Business enterprise

Apologies:
Name

Constituency

Loredana Carta

Labor

Vincent Kong

Business enterprise

Joseph Martin

Business enterprise

Corli le RouxMediating institution

Kenton Swift

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
DPP
DPAR
DPOC

Global Reporting Initiative
Global Sustainability Standards BoardStandards Division
Technical committee
Due Process Protocol
Due Process Adherence report
Due Process Oversight Committee

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8Decisions and action items

9Decisions

10

No quorum was achieved. The approval of the previous GSSB meeting summary is postponed to the11next meeting.

12Session 1: Welcome

13

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

14

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

15

Session 2: Standards Division update

16

Chief of Standards Bastian Buck presented the following updates on projects and staff recruitment:

17•The biodiversity project had its fourth TC meeting on 14 June 2022, with the next meeting18

scheduled for September. A final TC meeting (fatal flaw check) will occur in October 2022, before

19

the public consultation. The aim is to approve the exposure draft in the November GSSB meeting

20and commence public exposure in December 2022. There is a slight delay, as previously advised,

21

owing to the rich discussion with the expert group to ensure that a comprehensive proposal is22

ready for exposure. Two more meetings are required to arrive at an exposure draft for GSSB

23

approval.

24•

Background discussions with the ILO, unions, and employers have been completed for the Labor

25

Standard revision program. A draft proposal will be ready for GSSB discussion and approval in26

July 2022. Several layers of engagement are proposed with experts comprising a core group of27

the ILO, employer, and union representation, augmented by stakeholder perspectives to derive an28

exposure draft for this project.

29•Since May, the project for the mining sector has advanced substantially with five sub-group30

meetings held with the Mining Working Group (WG) to define the list of likely material topics and31

the impacts that will be described for those topics. A half-day full WG meeting will take place at32

the end of June. The project is on schedule, and in the September and October GSSB meetings,

33

more detailed projections can be made on when the exposure draft will be ready for GSSB

34

approval.

35•The important news for the agriculture, aquaculture, and fishing project is that the DPOC has

36

approved the Standard. The Standard, to be known as GRI 13: Agriculture, Aquaculture and37

Fishing Sectors, will be released on 28 June 2022. The launch will be marked by a virtual event38

on 30 June, with speakers from the OECD, WBA, and FAO on the panel.

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39

•Recruitment efforts have yielded significant capacity. With the budget allocation, more than 1040

new colleagues will be recruited. The aim is to build resources around all functions of the41

Standards Division.

42•The recruitment process has been slow due to the constrained labor market. The recruitment will43

be completed by the end of Q3 to have 28 colleagues in the Standards Division. GSSB members

44

are encouraged to promote these positions.

45

Session 3: Australian Red Cross

46

presentation on the possibility of47

integrating International

48

Humanitarian Law (IHL) into GRI

49

Standards and guidance

50

Ms. Fauve Kurnadi, Legal Adviser on International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Australian Red Cross,51

and Dr. Jonathan Kolieb, Senior Lecturer in Law at RMIT University, presented the possibility of52

integrating International Humanitarian Law into GRI standards and guidance:

53•A recommendation is to develop a topic-specific IHL standard as a natural continuation of GRI’s

54

commitment to strengthening human rights-related standards to reflect the increased attention

55

given to conflict settings.

56•

In the interim, the following actions are for consideration: a commitment to research into the57

relevance of IHL to responsible business practices; a gap analysis of existing GRI Standards to58

identify potential areas for IHL inclusion; the development of practical guidance on IHL for the59

current reporting season; the inclusion of IHL into education and training for businesses, including60

in relevant GRI Academy courses; and strengthening of other relevant GRI Standards’ conflict-61

sensitivity.

62

63

Session 4: Any other business and64

close of the meeting

65

No other business was raised, and the Chair closed the public meeting at 13.07 Central European

66

Time (CET).

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