gssbsecretariat@globalreporting.org

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Item 03 – GRI Topic Standard Project2for Climate – Draft project proposal

3For GSSB approvalDate

1 December 2022

Meeting15 December 2022

Project

GRI Topic Standard Project for Climate – Draft Project Proposal

Description

This document sets out the draft project proposal to review GRI 302: Energy 2016,
GRI 305: Emissions 2016 (Disclosures 305-1 to 305-5), and GRI 201: Economic
Performance 2016 (Disclosure 201-2: Financial implications and other risks andopportunities due to climate change).
This draft is presented to the GSSB for discussion and approval to send to the GRI
Board and Stakeholder Council for feedback.
After feedback from the GRI Board and Stakeholder Council has been received andincorporated, the Standards Division will present the final proposal to the GSSB forapproval in accordance with the Due Process Protocol.

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 theGRI Sustainability Reporting Standards. The GSSB is the independent standard setting body of GRI. For more information visit
www.globalreporting.org.

© GRI 2022

4Contents
Project background ................................................................................................................................. 3
Project objectives .................................................................................................................................... 4Division of responsibilities ....................................................................................................................... 5Timeline ................................................................................................................................................... 6

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Project backgroundAs part of the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) Work Program 2020-2022, the GSSB
identified the review of climate-related Standards, GRI 302: Energy 2016, GRI 305: Emissions 2016
(Disclosures 305-1 to 305-5), and GRI 201: Economic Performance 2016 (Disclosure 201-2: Financialimplications and other risks and opportunities due to climate change) as a priority for 2022.
Since the GRI Standards and disclosures on climate-related issues were last revised in 2013, the issueof climate change has received significant attention at the international level and in the global
sustainable development agenda. This attention is in line with the increasing recognition of the need formore effective climate action as recognized in the Paris Agreement (2015) by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s reports and by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

LATEST IPCC AND UNITED NATIONS’ INSIGHTS ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change is the defining challenge of our time. The scientific evidence in the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) reports are unequivocal: climate change threatens human well-being and the planet's health.
The 2015 Paris Agreement states that restricting the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C
above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels
would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change.1The Earth is about 1.1°C warmer than it was in the late 1800s, and emissions continue to rise. Policies currently inplace with no additional action will result in a projected 2.8°C global warming over the twenty-first century.2 That iswell above the goal of the Paris Agreement and would lead to catastrophic changes in the Earth’s climate. Therefore,
to limit global warming to no more than 1.5°C in just eight years, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be
reduced by 45% to reach net zero by 2050, compared to where they are headed under the current policies.3 A delay
in global climate action will miss the rapidly closing window to secure a livable future.
Human-induced climate change is causing dangerous and widespread environmental disruption and affecting thelives of billions of people around the world, despite current mitigation and adaptation efforts. Even temporarily
exceeding this warming level will result in additional severe impacts, some of which will be irreversible. Climatechange is the single biggest health threat facing humanity, and between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected
to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year.4 Risks for society will increase, including infrastructure
and low-lying coastal settlements, and increased heatwaves, droughts, and floods are already exceeding the planet’s
tolerance thresholds, driving mass mortalities in species.516171819

Since the GRI Standards and disclosures on climate-related issues were last revised in 2013, the UN
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were developed and launched from 2015 onwards. Climatechange is a key theme in the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Therefore, governments
and private sector organizations are urgently being called upon to address the UN SDGs.

1Paris Agreement 2015 https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/english_paris_agreement.pdf

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UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2022 - https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2022

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UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2022 - https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2022

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WHO https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health

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IPCC The Working Group II Report: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/

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Project objectives
The primary objective of this project is to review and revise the content of GRI 302: Energy 2016, GRI305: Emissions 2016 (Disclosures 305-1 to 305-5), and GRI 201: Economic Performance 2016
(Disclosure 201-2: Financial implications and other risks and opportunities due to climate change). To
represent internationally agreed best practice and align with the recent developments and the relevant
authoritative intergovernmental instruments in the field of climate change, greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions, and energy. The scope of the revision includes both emissions and energy, as using energy
more efficiently and opting for renewable energy sources is essential for combating climate change andlowering an organization’s overall environmental footprint.
The Standards Division proposes excluding the GRI 305: Emissions 2016 disclosures 305-6 and 3057 (air) pollution-related disclosures from the project and addressing those in the future revision ofpollution-related topics disclosures. The review of the GRI 201: Economic Performance 2016
(disclosure 201-1, 201-3, and 201-4) disclosures will be addressed in the economic-related Standards
project that is expected to commence in 2023.
The project will not be limited to reviewing the current contents of existing GRI climate-related
disclosures. However, it will incorporate new issues to reflect the stakeholder expectations related toclimate reporting that have evolved and broadened beyond energy and emissions reporting.
The Sector Standards Program and the ongoing review of the GRI Topic Standard on biodiversity havealso expressed the view that the GRI Standards lack a structure for reporting on the full scope of climatechange-related considerations, which may result in unclear or abstract reporting.6 The Working Groupfor GRI 11: Oil and Gas Sector 2021 and GRI 12: Coal Sector 2021 has consistently advocated forenhanced reporting related to climate change, in particular on the topic of climate resilience, adaption,and transition. They also specified that stakeholders expect to see reporting on aspects such as board
responsibility for climate change, setting emissions targets, investment in emissions-intensive activities,
climate change-related lobbying, and consideration of a just transition.
The review of the climate-related Topic Standards will not only build on our existing GRI Standards but
will also align with other climate-related reporting standards underway. These include the proposed
standards by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) of the IFRS Foundation andjurisdictional regulatory initiatives, such as the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
GRI and the IFRS have agreed to make interoperability a core ambition of their respective standard
setting activities and to promote disclosure perspectives as complementary and on an equal footing.7
GRI will therefore seek to develop the climate-related Topic Standards to reach maximum alignment
and ensure interoperability to the climate-related standard(s) of the ISSB.
GRI will continue in-depth exchanges with the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG)
to ensure alignment and interoperability of the GRI climate-related standards with the European
Sustainability Reporting Standards.
As a result, the revised climate-related topic Standards will enable an organization to disclose publicly:••

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its most significant impacts on climate change and how the organization manages theseimpacts, enhancing the transparency of the organization’s impacts and increasingorganizational accountability;
its broadened climate-related impact beyond energy and emissions to potentially include
climate resilience, adaption, and transition.

GRI Sector Standards Project for Oil, Gas, and Coal – Input on GRI Topic Standards.

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https://www.globalreporting.org/news/news-center/gri-and-issb-provide-update-on-ongoing-collaboration/;
https://www.globalreporting.org/news/news-center/ifrs-foundation-and-gri-to-align-capital-market-and-multi-stakeholderstandards/

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Division of responsibilities

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A Technical Committee will be formed in accordance with the Due Process Protocol to provide technicaladvice for the development of the revised Topic Standards, with the mandate to provide
recommendations in the following areas:

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The field of climate change is very broad, and the Standards Division believes that convening aTechnical Committee appointed by the GSSB could support the review and development of newclimate-related disclosures.

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defining the scope of the climate-related Standards revision;
revising the existing climate-related disclosures: GRI 302: Energy 2016, GRI 305: Emissions
2016 (Disclosures 305-1 to 305-5), and GRI 201: Economic Performance 2016 (Disclosure201-2: Financial implications and other risks and opportunities due to climate change);
developing new disclosures to broaden the scope to include new impact areas such astransition, resilience to climate change, and adaptation strategies;
ensuring that the revision and development of new climate-related disclosures will be in linewith the most updated authoritative references.

The Standards Division will draft the climate-related Topic Standards, and the GSSB will have oversightand final approval over the climate-related Topic Standards before their release. The Standards Division
will ensure coherence between the climate-related Topic Standards and other GRI Standards approvedor under development.
The project will be conducted in accordance with the GSSB Due Process Protocol.

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Timeline

949596This project is envisioned to commence in February 2023. Table 1, on the following page, outlines theanticipated project duration. The exact starting date and the predicted dates of other key milestones
will be confirmed during the GSSB meeting on February 2023.

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gssbsecretariat@globalreporting.org
Table 1: Estimated duration of Topic Standards Project for Climate

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