GRI Global Reporting Initiative - optimise your CSR strategy

GRI: Reporting only what matters

GRI is an international independent organization that publishes CSR reporting guidelines.

The guidelines are split into general and specific standard disclosures. General disclosures mainly refer to the CSR strategy of the company, as well as its business model and governance profile. Specific disclosures directly relate to CSR topics like CO2 emissions, child labor, sustainable procurement, and so on. The specificity of GRI is that organizations can choose the topics to be reported according to their importance for the company and for the company’s stakeholders (impacted parties like clients, shareholders, local communities).

Further information

Data sheet: DFGE solutions overview
Blogpost: GRI Standards Introduction

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Our Services

Starter: Your Materiality Matrix

The GRI Standard-Guidelines specificities lie in the reporting principles, where it is important to report on only what matters and to consult stakeholders. The most common way to fulfill these requirements is to draw a materiality matrix.

Our process is the following:

Benchmark which leads to a shortlist of potential material aspects
Survey among the decision-makers to rate them
Stakeholder engagement process to get their feedback
Synthesis in materiality matrix

Study of up to 20 companies showing what topics are included in their reports, if the topics are present in their materiality matrix, the sectorial topics
Stakeholder engagement package
Shortlist of potential topics with their “boundaries” (where they occur)
Survey designed by us on this basis, to be filled by the decision-makers
A materiality matrix and a list of material topics and boundaries
Decision-making tool for the report contents and the CSR strategy

Complete: GRI Complete Solution

You want a GRI report but have no idea what your peers are doing, what a materiality matrix is or whether the current data is sufficient? Then you can opt for the 360° solution.

We will:

Conduct a benchmark
Provide a materiality matrix and list of aspects
Conduct the data compilation process along with the GRI index.

A materiality matrix and list of material topics and boundaries
Gap analysis and data collection plan.
Collection of data and plausibility
Provision of draft with raw structure, texts and indicators
Delivery of GRI index to be added to the final report

Services: Individual & Modular

We consult you on an individual basis, providing internal trainings for your team, but also workshops and subtasks during the GRI participation.

Workshops & trainings
Tailor-made consulting services
Validation of your responses

Your Advantages:

Scalable: you choose the structure of your report
Time-saving: you can focus on the communication itself, not the technical aspects

Compliance with the GRI guidelines
Reliable: use of an internationally recognized standard to structure your CSR report

Relevant: DFGE will help pick only the relevant topics and prioritize according to your business and your stakeholders’ views

More about the GRI process

The GRI process prescribes certain principles for the report’s content as well for its quality, e.g. concerning diligence, comparability, reliability and completeness of the presented information. With regards to content, the principles are stakeholder integration, completeness (all important CSR fields should be covered), sustainability context (how can the company’s activities be seen as a whole?) and materiality (priorization of the most important CSR areas).

The implementation of these principles normally results in a materiality matrix (with the topics which are seen as being important by the stakeholders and the company) and a list of the material aspects incl. description.

Why GRI at all?

Measurement and control of progess becomes possible
CSR strategy and economic interest are brought in line
Only material topics are reported
Acknowledged standard which includes stakeholders
Data can be compared over a period of time

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