Corporate Reporting and Human Rights

6 November 2015, Geneva. GRI, provider of one of the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting standards, has launched its latest Linkage Document at the Fourth United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights.

‘Linking G4 and the UN Guiding Principles’ highlights the connections between the GRI G4 Reporting Guidelines (G4) and key concepts of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

These include due diligence, grievance mechanisms and impact assessments – undertaken both for operations and suppliers – which are also recurring concepts throughout G4.

This new Linkage Document gives stakeholders an understanding of the existing opportunities and further potential for companies to integrate and adhere to the Guiding Principles when using G4.

GRI’s Chief Executive Michael Meehan  commented “Governments and businesses around the world consider climate change and human rights to be some of the greatest challenges of our time, yet they are often considered in isolation. Risks from climate change include issues beyond carbon and energy, such as population migration, human rights, inequality, corruption, and many others. It is important we consider them holistically and understand the connection between these critical global risks to work towards inclusive solutions.”

Meehan added, “Corporate reporting that combines the use of international principles on specific issues such as the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights and globally accepted sustainability reporting standards on a wide range of non-financial issues such as GRI Standards, is fundamental to creating the transparency needed to enable better decision making by governments, businesses and other stakeholders.”

Download the GRI Linkage Document ‘Linking G4 and the UN Guiding Principles’ here.