GRI launches digital taxonomy to enable machine readable sustainability disclosures

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🗞️ Driving the news: The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has launched a new Sustainability Taxonomy, providing a machine-readable version of its widely used reporting standards
• This initiative aims to streamline the collection and submission of sustainability disclosures, enhancing their compatibility with other global reporting frameworks like the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS)

🔭 The context: GRI’s Sustainability Taxonomy is designed to support organizations in submitting their sustainability data in a digital format based on XBRL, which will improve the transparency, comparability, and accessibility of reports
• This new system aligns with global efforts to harmonize ESG (environmental, social, and governance) reporting, which is crucial for investors and stakeholders who rely on standardized and easily interpretable data

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The move toward machine-readable sustainability disclosures marks a significant step in making ESG data more accessible and actionable
• By improving the efficiency of data collection and increasing the interoperability of reporting standards, this initiative helps bridge the gap between organizations' reported impacts and the stakeholders who use the data to make informed decisions, ultimately supporting more effective environmental and social impact assessment

⏭️ What's next: As GRI rolls out its digital taxonomy and supporting tools later in 2025, businesses will have greater ease in verifying their sustainability disclosures
• The focus will now shift to ensuring widespread adoption of these digital tools and continued alignment with other ESG standards to foster global consistency in sustainability reporting

💬 One quote: “GRI’s Sustainability Taxonomy is a significant step forward in making sustainability information faster to retrieve and analyze, for both reporting organizations and data users.” – Cristina Gil White, GRI Chief Engagement Officer

📈 One stat: The GRI’s new digital taxonomy is designed to strengthen interoperability with XBRL-based standards from both ISSB and ESRS, launched in 2024

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