The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the UN Global Compact, together with partners and stakeholders, have released an updated guidance for companies to effectively integrate the SDGs into their reporting processes. The July 2022 version includes an updated list of possible disclosures.

The guidance was first published in 2017 under the title, ‘Business Reporting on the SDGs: An Analysis of the Goals and Targets,’ aiming to “pave the way for the aggregation of relevant information across companies and sectors, enabling better comparability and usability by stakeholders.” It contained “an inventory of possible disclosures per SDG, at the level of the 169 targets, based on a wide range of disclosure and indicator sources, including internationally recognized frameworks and standards.”

The updated list of disclosures incorporated in the July edition replaces the list published in 2017. New GRI Topic Standards, the GRI Universal Standards 2021, and the GRI Sector Standards are among the new or updated sources of disclosures. The 2022 update also includes the questions of the 2022 edition of the UN Global Compact Communication on Progress questionnaire.

Among additional sources of disclosures included in the 2022 edition are the AWS International Water Stewardship Standard, CDP questionnaires, Corporate Human Rights Benchmark Methodology 2021 for several sectors, Culture of Health for Business (COH4B) framework by GRI and Robert Wood Johnson, Ellen MacArthur Foundation MCI tool, and UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework.

The guidance is intended to be used in conjunction with a 2018 publication, ‘Integrating the SDGs into Corporate Reporting: A Practical Guide.’ Both documents were published as part of the work of the Action Platform Reporting on the SDGs (2017-2020), along with other SDG reporting resources, including ‘In-Focus: Addressing Investor Needs in Business Reporting on the SDGs’ (2018) and ‘Reporting Examples: How Companies are Reporting on the SDGs’ (2020). By leveraging the GRI Standards and the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, the publications enable businesses to incorporate SDG reporting into their existing processes and empower them to make the Goals “a reality.”

PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) initiative contributed to the publications. The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) provided support for the Action Platform. [Publication: Business Reporting on the SDGs: An Analysis of the Goals and Targets 2022] [Publication Landing Page]