gssbsecretariat@globalreporting.org

Item 01 – Draft summary of the GSSB
meeting held on 17-18 October 2023
For GSSB approval
Date

2 November 2023

Meeting

16 November 2023

Description

This document presents the summary of the GSSB in-person meeting held on 1718 October 2023.

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 2023

ContentsParticipants.............................................................................................................................................. 3
List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................................ 3
Decisions and action items ..................................................................................................................... 4
Session 1.1: Welcome ............................................................................................................................ 4
Session 1.2: GRI Topic Standard Project for Labor update .................................................................... 6
Session 1.4: GRI 3 guidance update ...................................................................................................... 6
Session 1.5: Inter-alignment between Biodiversity and Mining Standards ............................................. 7
Session 2.4: GRI Topic Standard Project for Climate Change update ................................................... 8
Session 2.5: Introduction to XBRL .......................................................................................................... 8
Session 2.6: Feedback received on GRI Standards ............................................................................... 9
Session 2.7: Project schedule for 2024 ................................................................................................ 10Session 2.8: Close of meeting .............................................................................................................. 11Page 2 of 11

1Participants

2

Present:

3

45

Name

Constituency

Carol Adams

Chair

Chulendra De SilvaMediating institution

Deborah Ng

Investment Institution

Gangaa Charan SharmaBusiness enterprise

Galya Tsonkova

Business enterprise

Giulia Genuardi

Business enterprise

Jeff Robertson

Vice-ChairJennifer Princing

Business enterprise

Joseph MartinBusiness enterprise

Kim Schumacher (joined onlinejoined
online at 09.55 until 11.30 on 17/10, and on
18/10 10.00-12.00 and 13.00-14.00)
Loredana Carta (joined at 13:00)

Civil society organization

Peter Colley

Labor

Vincent Kong

Business enterprise

Labor

Apologies:
Name

Constituency

Anna Nefedova

Mediating institution

Corli le RouxMediating institution

In attendance from GRI:
Name

Position

Bastian Buck

Chief of Standards

Elodie ChêneSr. Manager, Standards

Gillian Balaban

Sr. Coordinator Governance Relations

Harold Pauwels

Director Standards

Izzy Ensor

Manager, Standards

Júlia Ontañón Benguerel

Sr. Standards Officer

Laura Espinach

Head of Technical Development

Margherita BarbieriManager, Standards

Piers Horner

Sr. Manager, Licensing Software andTools

List of abbreviations
GRIGSSB

Global Reporting Initiative
Global Sustainability Standards Board

Page 3 of 11SDWG
TC
PCP

Standards Division
Working group
Technical committee
Public comment period

6Decisions and action items

7Decisions

8

The GSSB resolved to approve the following:

9GSSB Decision 2023.29 Item 01 – Draft summary of the GSSB meeting held on 14 September 2023

10GSSB Decision 2023.30 Item 02 – GRI Sector Standard Project for Financial Services – Proposed

11

member substitution for Banking Technical Committee

12

Session 1.1: Welcome

13

The Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) Chair Carol Adams (henceforth the Chair)

14

welcomed the GSSB to the 2-day in-person meeting. The Chair presented an overview of the meeting

15

agenda. A quorum was established, and the above items were presented to the GSSB for approval.

16

The Chair asked GSSB members to share key regional or stakeholder constituency developments. A

17summary of responses is listed as follows:18•In engagements with, regulators, standards setters, investors, and consulting firm partners,

19

GRI has emphasized that significant impacts are important to identify a complete set of risks

20for investors. The assurance of the process for determining these impacts is also important.

21

Feedback received from investors and consulting firms also highlights the importance of22significant impacts.

23•

In discussions with companies and accounting bodies in Sri Lanka and South Asia, including

24

the Colombo Stock Exchange, the takeaway was that impact reporting is considered the25starting point for sustainability efforts. GRI’s approach to “impact materiality” as a foundation

26

before adopting other reporting frameworks was emphasized. However, there are concerns

27

about the reporting burden and the need for simplification and interoperability among

28

reporting standards. The focus is on making sustainability reporting more streamlined.

29•The Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) is working with ISSB for the Canadian

30

context. The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) proposed climate disclosures in 2021

31

and are now developing disclosures based on ISSB standards. GRI content – around 68-70%

32of reports in the last year – continues to be prevalent in Canadian sustainability reports.

Page 4 of 1133•There has been a significant shift in the regulatory system in India, transitioning from BRR to34

BRSR reporting based on a national guideline for responsible business conduct. The latest

35

development mandates the top 150 companies to provide reasonable assurance on core

36

BRSR indicators, posing challenges for corporations. Additionally, the market faces a37

shortage of capacity to produce quality sustainability reports, allowing GRI to influence the38

sustainability reporting ecosystem.

39

•40
41

News in Australia centers on the unsuccessful referendum to recognize Indigenous People inthe constitution and provide them a permanent parliamentary voice.

•The priority of the labor stakeholder group is to consider stakeholder impacts over financial

42

materiality. GRI labor standards are being revised with an initial focus on work quality and43

remuneration, followed by workplace human rights in the second stage.

44•In the US, ESG factors remain relevant, but there is an emerging debate about their

45

significance, while investors exercise caution in their ESG interpretations. The persistence of46

the ESG movement, driven by fiduciary responsibilities, is emphasized.

47•In Europe, many regulatory acronyms like CSRD, ESRS, and EU Taxonomy complicate

48compliance for companies. Furthermore, companies with US investors must adapt to49reporting frameworks like ISSB and TCFD, with ongoing discussions about employees' ideal

50

location and background in sustainability reporting departments.

51•In Hong Kong, TCFD will be mandatory for listed companies starting in January 2025. This is52of concern due to its high-level reporting standards and the need for adaptation. There is an53

anticipated need for IFRS S1 and S2 reporting. Companies seek guidance from GRI to54

integrate TCFD requirements into their existing reporting framework, as they value GRI's

55

impact identification, which IFRS S1 and S2 do not address.

56
57

Chief of Standards, Bastian Buck, provided the Standards Division update as follows:•Companies are waking up to the mandatory nature of ESG requirements across various

58

jurisdictions. Multinational corporations are facing multiple overlapping reporting requirements

59

in different jurisdictions. Financial reporting also faces similar challenges. GRI is a reference

60

point for best practices and must stay ahead of regulatory developments.

61•GRI is working on linkage documents and a digital taxonomy to help practitioners navigate

62

reporting requirements. The focus is prioritizing work and proactively addressing

63

interoperability with other standards and regulations.

64•GRI continues to hire new staff to expand capacity to deliver on its work program.

65

The Chief of Standards proposed the additional member to the Capital Markets Technical Committee

66

for approval.

67

The GSSB approves the following:

GSSB Decision

Item number

Page 5 of 112023.29

01 – Draft summary of the GSSB meeting held on 14 September 2023

2023.30

02 – GRI Sector Standard Project for Financial Services – Proposed member
substitution for Banking Technical Committee

68

Session 1.2: GRI Topic Standard

69

Project for Labor update

70

Izzy Ensor, Manager Standards, presented an update on the topic standard project for labor with a71

focus on content development, just transition, and ‘control of workers’ standard interpretation.

72

The GSSB discussed these areas for clarification. General agreement on the direction the73

development of the standard is taking. No decisions were made.

74

Session 1.4: GRI 3 guidance update75

Chief of Standards, Bastian Buck, discussed the upcoming project to develop non-authoritative76

guidance on identifying risks and opportunities that arise from impacts. The following points are for77

consideration:

78

•

79
80

The SD is developing the project’s proposal, which will be discussed at the GSSB meeting inJanuary 2024, allowing content development to begin shortly afterwards.

•The current goal is to publish the non-authoritative guidance by the end of 2024, depending81

on the SD’s prioritization of projects next year, which will be discussed at the GSSB meeting82

in November 2023.

83

•

84
85

The project is expected to rely more on expert reviewers and a public consultation, rather
than a technical committee.

•The SD are in the process of identifying key stakeholders to participate in the project. Some86

parties have expressed their willingness to collaborate. The TFND, which was invited to this87

session, have expressed their willingness to collaborate on the development of biodiversity

88

related guidance.

89

TNFD Executive Director, Tony Goldner, presented their framework and guidance on nature-related

90

financial disclosures, which were published in September 2023. The following points are for

91

consideration:

92
93

•

The TNFD welcomed the statements from GRI about the consistency between their newframework and the GRI standards.

Page 6 of 11

94

•

95
96

important for organizations trying to understand related impacts, risks, and opportunities.
•97
98

In nature-related financial disclosures, the concept of ‘dependencies’ will become increasingly

The TNFD will test its impact materiality assessment with 200 pilot institutions and use thisinformation to align with ESRS requirements.

•99

Additional guidance will likely be developed on how TNFD’s framework aligns with otherjurisdictions.

100

In response to comments and questions from the GSSB, the TNFD highlighted the following issues as101

important:

102•There are now several terms for disclosures related to nature, and many need clearer

103

definitions. However, more effective collaboration and alignment among the main reporting104

bodies can help provide the needed clarity.

105•

Reporting on both positive and negative impacts will remain critical for nature-related

106

disclosures, but the lack of clear thresholds for ecosystems will be an ongoing challenge for

107

organizations.

108•

More metrics are also needed to help organizations determine dependencies, impacts, risks,109

and opportunities, which is why the TNFD has started to frame these aspects, including

110

through qualitative information.

111

Session 1.5: Inter-alignment between

112

Biodiversity and Mining Standards

113

Elodie Chêne, Júlia Ontañón Benguerel, Bastian Buck, and Harold Pauwels presented an update on114

the ongoing effort to align the Biodiversity and Mining Standards prior to publication:

115•The near-simultaneous publication of the biodiversity and mining projects marks a significant

116

milestone as it is the first time a topic standard is being revised since the introduction of the117

sector program.

118•

The recommendation from the SD is to include biodiversity disclosures within the mining

119

sector standard. This aims to encourage the mining sector, which has considerable impacts

120

on biodiversity, to adopt the leading standard for reporting on biodiversity impacts.

121
122
123

•

Importantly, this approach prevents the need for revising a recently launched standard, and it
allows organizations time to initiate data collection effectively.

GSSB comments and SD responses are as follows:

Page 7 of 11

124

•

A GSSB member asked about how the process of alignment with Sector Standard that are

125

already approved. SD responded that this is covered by the pilot project presented to the126

GSSB at their September meeting.

127•A GSSB member asked for an update on the adoption of the Oil and Gas Standard. SD128shared that there are 65 companies in the top 1000 that are classified as oil and gas

129

companies, of which 22 (one third) had already published in August a report that used GRI

130

11. This data indicates that certain sectors are more comfortable reporting on controversial

131

areas when they see their peers doing the same.

132

•

133

A GSSB member noted that the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) requires
its members to report using GRI standards, underlining the importance of industry adoption.

134

Session 2.4: GRI Topic Standard

135

Project for Climate Change update

136

Margherita Barbieri, Manager Standards, presented an update of the Topic Standard Project for137

Climate Change with an overview of the proposed disclosures and their structure across the climate

138

and energy standards.

139

In response to questions from the GSSB, the following points were clarified:

140

•141

With regard to just transition disclosure and metrics, the aim is to develop more qualitative
metrics through further discussion with TC and feedback and testing.

142•Guidance on referencing GHG protocols can be made clearer.

143•Decided by TC to report the whole of Scope 3 in target setting; for reporting, Scope 3

144

accounting has existed for a long time, so it should be possible, and therefore, all categories

145

are required.

146•

Regarding just transition, the project team is collaborating with the labor project and meeting147

with authoritative sources. More detail will be required under the just transition disclosure,148

because it was deemed insufficient to report only jobs created/characteristics. What is149

needed are better metrics and ratios for jobs lost, eliminated, and under training, as well as

150

how to measure the impact of transition on vulnerable groups, etc.

151

Session 2.5: Introduction to XBRLPage 8 of 11152

Piers Horner, Senior Manager Licensing Software and Tools, and Laura Espinach, Director

153Standards, provided an update on the project developing a taxonomy for GRI Standards using the154

XBRL coding language. The following points are for consideration:

155•The XBRL taxonomy is being retroactively applied to GRI Standards, which may see different

156

options emerge for tagging certain information. The SD expects the GSSB to advise on the157

most appropriate tags or decide whether an interpretation of the Standards is needed when158

codifying the Standards in XBRL.

159

•

160
161

among their different taxonomies, particularly around information that is not quantitative.
•162
163
164

The project team is working with IFRS and EFRAG technical teams to ensure interoperability

A draft version of the taxonomy is expected in the coming months while organizations may beable to use the system sometime in 2024.

In response to comments and questions from the GSSB, the SD clarified the following points:•The project will create data points linked to the standards’ requirements, which can then be165

used to validate disclosures. The SD expects this will drive greater transparency and

166alignment among sustainability disclosures worldwide.

167

•

168
169

among multinationals that request sustainability information from their supply chain partners.
•

170
171

The SD expects widespread business-to-business application of the taxonomy, particularly

Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions are not being considered right now, but it will be an
important part of future discussions with software developers.

•GRI will not be responsible for how the taxonomy data will be incorporated into an

172

organization’s reporting system, but the SD will work with partners to ensure integration

173

happens in the most effective way.

174

Session 2.6: Feedback received on

175

GRI Standards

176

Laura Espinach, Director Standards, presented the feedback received on GRI Standards. The

177

following points are for consideration:

178•Six sets of feedback were received; the first three pertain to specific disclosures.

179•

Web FAQs and experts in the ongoing projects will address the feedback and suggestions.

180

GSSB comments and SD responses are as follows:

Page 9 of 11181•The GSSB commented on the feedback regarding using revenue as a denominator to182

evaluate energy intensity. Most members suggested that using revenue as a single

183

measurement would be problematic. The suggestion is to use revenue along with other184

denominators, like the number of employees and unit of production. The SD confirmed that

185

this issue was discussed in climate TC meetings and that flexibility was preferred.

186•The GSSB referred to ‘feedback, item 1’ and suggested considering using definitions from

187

organizations like the ILO or Human Rights groups, as there are no gender or sex definitions

188

in the current standards. The SD stated that the identification of an appropriate source should189

be deferred to the labor TC. It indicated that the labor TC should address this issue for further

190

guidance.

191•The GSSB asked if benchmarks like ‘zero waste to landfill’, which are internationally192

accepted, can be referenced in the standards. The SD suggested that these benchmark

193

considerations can be explored within the context of a specific project. These considerations

194

are more suited for issue-specific exploration rather than applying them universally across all

195

GRI Standards.

196•The GSSB asked how human rights requirements relate to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

197

The SD responded that human rights requirements would indeed cover the issue. In 2021, the198

Universal Standards were updated to include the concept of due diligence, which involves

199

reporting on due diligence for all impacts a company has, not just human rights. These200

standards align with key international instruments like the UN and OECD. GRI offers some201

guidance at the sector level, but further details from this feedback could be developed into

202

future guidance or standards. At the core, GRI provides the foundation for such reporting.

203

Session 2.7: Project schedule for

204

2024

205

Bastian Buck, Chief of Standards, and Harold Pauwels, Director Standards, provided an outline of the206

project schedule for 2024, along with potential adjustments to the Work Program 2023-2025.

207

First, SD walked through the key updates about the Sector Program:

208

•

209

Mining – expected to reach its final milestone with approval in December. 2024 will primarily
concentrate on the publication and rollout of the standard.

210•

Financial services – This project has recently commenced, with PCP scheduled for late 2024.

211•Textile – Currently on hold, with hopes to resume activities in Q1 of 2024.

212•Sector Program – Projects for Food and Beverages, Utilities, and Renewable Energy within

213

the work program are on hold as they search for program leadership. Priorities may change

Page 10 of 11214

due to alignment of the standard-setting agenda. The development of sector-specific215

materials, including guidance, is ongoing.

216

Second, SD outlined key updates for the Topic Program:

217•Biodiversity – Expected to conclude approval in December and publication in Q1 2024.

218•

Climate Change – An exposure draft is scheduled for presentation on November 16. The PCP

219

will run from November 2023 until the end of February 2024.

220•

Labor – The first set of standards is anticipated by early Q2.

221•

Economic impacts – The project has commenced and the manager is in the process of222
223

recruiting a working group.
•224
225

during the GSSB meeting on December 14, 2023.
•226
227

230

Projects such as Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, Digitalization, and Security
Practices may experience potential delays due to recruitment challenges.

•228
229

Pollution – Research into scope and stakeholders is underway, with a draft proposal planned

Other ongoing projects encompass XBRL taxonomy, research initiatives, recruitment efforts,and alignment endeavors.

GSSB comments and SD responses are as follows:•A GSSB member asked about the hiring of a Director for the Sector Program, and how the231

delay affects the ongoing projects. Bastian promised a hiring update at the next meeting, and232

reaffirmed that leadership is critical to drive future projects.

233•

A GSSB member asked about alignment with global standards. SD indicated ongoing234

discussions with EFRAG about aligning priorities. Additionally, new information about

235

standards in development is expected.

236•GSSB members also inquired about the potential need for sponsorship for various projects.

237

Session 2.8: Close of meeting

238

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

239

No other business was raised, and the Chair closed the final day of the in-person meeting at 15:50

240

Central European Time (CET).

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