Does your organization use the GRI standards for sustainability reporting? In October 2021, the Global Reporting Initiative published a new version of its universal standards. The revision has led to a number of significant changes. In this article, we will give you a summary of the main changes and the implication for reporting companies.
The universal standards describe the fundamental principles and framework of the GRI Standard. Their revision therefore has far-reaching effects – also on the topic-specific standards. In this article, we will present the most important changes.
Changes in structure: three types of standards
As a reminder, the GRI framework previously included two types of standards:
- The so-called universal standards, applicable to all reporting organizations (101, 102 and 103)
- Topic-specific standards, focusing on distinct sustainability topics like human rights, waste, emissions, … (the 200, 300 and 400 series).
With the revision of the universal standards, the system of reporting according to GRI was updated. The universal standards (they can be recognized by the green cover) have been renamed to:
– GRI 1: Foundation 2021
– GRI 2: General Disclosures 2021
– GRI 3: Material Topics 2021
In addition to the the universal standards and the topic-specific standards, there are now also sector-specific standards. They can be identified by a brown cover and a two-digit code number. The sector-specific standards do not contain any new disclosures, but help companies to identify their material topics. They identify and describe the key economic, environmental and social impacts of a sector, setting the context for reporting. The first sector-specific standard for the oil and gas industry was published in October 2021. A second standard for the agriculture sector is expected to follow shortly.
The topic-specific standards remain in place. However, three topic-specific standards were withdrawn because the content was either discontinued or included in the revised universal standards. Therefore, after the revision, there are now 31 topic-specific standards. All have a purple cover page and a three-digit code number.

So much for the new structure. Now let’s take a look at the most important changes in content.
Impact and materiality
One of the key concepts of sustainability reporting is “materiality”: the idea that reports should focus on the topics that are the most relevant to the sustainability performance of the reporting organization. Many reporters include a materiality matrix in their report, which indicates the relevance and priority of the specific sustainability topics. For example, companies in the oil and gas industry are likely to have emissions as one of their most material topics, whereas companies in the service industry may focus more on social aspects, like employee wellbeing.
However, there are many different approaches to defining materiality. Many companies still rank the topics on two axes:
- relevance to stakeholders and
- relevance to the company.
It should be noted, however, that this approach has not been in line with the GRI standards for many years. Although the definition of materiality in the 2016 version is also based on two axes, these are:
- influence on the decisions of stakeholders and
- significance of economic, environmental and social impact.
The graphic below is taken from the 2016 version of GRI 101:

The version published in 2021, however, focuses on the horizontal axis only. According to the revised definition, a material topic is a “topic that reflects the organization’s most significant impacts on the economy, environment, and people, including impacts on human rights”.

So what does that change in practice? It means the focus shifts entirely to impact: reporting organizations will need to ensure they understand their actual and potential impacts on the economy, the environment and society. Of course they still need to involve their stakeholders to gather their input, but not in order to understand what their priorities are, but rather to get a better understanding of the impact of the organization.
Impact and due diligence
This focus on impact means that reporting organizations need a process to identify and manage their impacts. This is where the concept of due diligence comes into play. The term, almost entirely absent in the first version of the standard, now takes center stage. It is defined as “the process through which an organization identifies, prevents, mitigates, and accounts for how it addresses its actual and potential negative impacts on the economy, environment, and people.”
One of the key topics for which reporters will need to disclose their due diligence approach is human rights. Frequent readers of our blog will know that many countries are in the process of making human rights due diligence mandatory (Link, Link). As such, the update to the GRI Standards ensures a better alignment with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Distinction between core and comprehensive disappears
Another noteworthy change is that the distinction between reporting only the core disclosures and reporting comprehensively disappears. This means that for all topics that are judged to be material, reporting organizations will need to include all disclosures, rather than only selected ones.
Timeline and download
As of January 1, 2023, the application of the new version of the universal standards is mandatory. This means that their use will be required from that date onwards, although GRI encourages reporting organizations to adopt the changes earlier.
You can download the revised GRI Standards here. An overview of frequently asked questions can be found here.
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Dr. Thijs Willaert is Director of Marketing & Communication at DQS CFS GmbH