The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the IFRS Foundation today (9 November) announced the launch of the Sustainability Innovation Lab (SIL), a new initiative to support companies in meeting their evolving sustainability disclosure requirements.
The SIL will be based in Singapore and will initially focus on the Asia-Pacific region, where there is a strong demand for harmonised sustainability reporting standards, namely the new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) Standards. In addition, 81% of listed companies in Asia-Pacific already report with GRI.
The initiative will bring together global and local partners to develop best practices, data-driven solutions, and capacity building programs for sustainability reporting. It will also provide a platform for collaboration between GRI, the ISSB, and other key stakeholders to identify emerging sustainability disclosure topics and address disparities in reporting requirements.
“The SIL is a critical step in our efforts to support companies in their sustainability journeys,” said Eelco van der Enden, CEO of GRI. “By providing a platform for collaboration and innovation, we can help to streamline the reporting process and ensure that companies are meeting the information needs of all stakeholders.”
“The IFRS Foundation is committed to working with GRI to facilitate the advancement of sustainability reporting for all,” said Emmanuel Faber, Chair of the ISSB. “The SIL is a valuable initiative that will help to ensure that companies have the tools and resources they need to meet their evolving sustainability disclosure requirements.”
The SIL is being introduced to address growing confusion and concern among businesses arising from the increasing number of sustainability frameworks and standards.
It does this by providing guidance on how to address inconsistencies in reporting requirements and by supporting the development of a more harmonised global reporting landscape.
The SIL will also play a role in supporting the implementation of the ISSB Standards, which were released in June 2023. The ISSB Standards are a set of global standards for sustainability reporting that are designed to provide a comprehensive and consistent framework for companies to report on their sustainability performance.
The GRI Standards are the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting standards. The GRI has confirmed they will integrate with both the ISSB standards and the European Sustainable Reporting Standards (ESRS), which underpin the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
The SIL will be launched at the GRI run Solutions in Motion, Sustainability in Action conference in Singapore on 20 November.
