News

Five ways to engage the private sector in the SDGs

​Greater corporate input needed to reach the Sustainable Development Goals​ With the clock ticking on the deadline to complete the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), governments need to up the pace of progress – and do more to harness participation from both the public and private sectors. GRI has set out recommendations to help policymakers work

News

Meet Investors Halfway With Better ESG Reporting

With the UN pushing to cut greenhouse emissions by 7.6 percent every year between now and 2030, the time to act on climate is now. As sustainability and impact investing become mainstream, companies are facing more pressure from all sides — investors, employees, consumers and media — to up their game. Investors are taking a stand on

News

ICAI issues guidance note on financial reporting amid coronavirus outbreak

Chartered accountants’ apex body ICAI has come out with a detailed advisory on financial reporting and audit of financial statements for the current financial year in the wake of businesses being impacted by coronavirus outbreak. Business activities have been disrupted by the outbreak and the country is also under a 21-day lockdown to curb spreading

News

SEC provides new coronavirus disclosure guidance

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance published new guidance to provide clarity regarding its view on disclosure and other securities law obligations during the escalating coronavirus pandemic. The SEC said it’s “providing this guidance as companies prepare disclosure documents during this uncertain time. The Commission and the staff have also provided targeted regulatory

News

UN Sustainable Development Goals – better assessment to deliver the decade of action, says ACCA

The 2020s have been called ‘the decade of action’ for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) if they are to be achieved by the deadline of 2030. ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) highlights in a new report Auditing the SDGs: Progress to 2030 the importance of measuring progress given the scale of the challenges

News

Oil and gas industry releases updated global sustainability reporting guidance

IPIECA, the American Petroleum Institute (API), and the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) today released the new edition of the Sustainability reporting guidance for the oil and gas industry, which marks over fifteen years of collaboration between the member companies across the three leading industry associations.   “The fourth edition of the Sustainability Reporting Guidance provides oil and gas companies with a clear framework to demonstrate their important role in the energy transition by reporting on how they

News

Unlocking benefits of sustainability reporting in South Asia

Deeper engagement with capital markets is helping GRI reach companies across region.​​ An engagement program with stock exchanges and regulators in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh is enabling GRI to support more listed companies to improve how they report on their sustainability impacts. The program, with support from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has been

News

Tips for making effective environmental disclosures under the EU Non-Financial Reporting Directive

Following the launch of the EU Environmental Reporting Handbook, CDSB’s project manager, Gemma Clements, shares four essential tips on how to disclose environmental information in line with reporting requirements in Europe. The beginning of 2020 has seen a surge of activity around environmental disclosures, especially within the EU. On the 28 January Vice President Dombrovskis announced that later this year he will present a renewed sustainable finance strategy for

News

US Senators join call for OECD to ‘align with GRI Tax Standard’

Review of BEPS sees groups around the world push for public reporting ​The response to the OECD’s consultation on updating their tax reporting framework has been supportive of adding public disclosure of country-by-country corporate tax payments. About 25% of the responses urged the OECD to align with GRI’s recently launched Tax Standard. OECD’s Base Erosion

News

Here Is How To Set Global Standards For Nonfinancial Information

The opportunity has come to establish independent, rigorous global standards for nonfinancial information for companies’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance as well as their external impact. We cannot lose this opportunity lest it never come again. As I wrote in this column in May 2016 “we won’t have the capital markets we need today to create a