- An overview of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an independent, international organization dedicated to helping businesses and governments effectively and transparently report on environmental, social, and governance sustainability issues. In late 2016, GRI released its most recent iteration of sustainability reporting guidelines, which is simply referred to as the Sustainability Reporting Standards. GRI G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, which were released in 2013 and subsequently widely adopted, are the basis of these Standards.
- Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or sustainable and humane future for all”. UN General Assembly established the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, with the goal of achieving them by 2030. The UN has implemented them in a resolution called the 2030 Agenda, also known colloquially as Agenda Aiming to replace the Millennium Development Goals that expired in 2015, the SDGs were included in the Post-2015 Development Agenda as the world’s next development framework.
- Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD): The Financial Stability Board established the TCFD to develop recommendations for more effective climate-related disclosures that could promote more informed investment, credit, and insurance underwriting decisions and, in turn, enable stakeholders to understand better the concentrations of carbon-related assets in the financial sector and the financial system’s exposures to climate-related risks. It is the policy of the TCFD to promote market stability and transparency.
- It is important to note that the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) has published ESG standards that explain the underlying financial metrics and how they are implemented. SASB ESG framework is well suited to analyze financial performance in light of an entity’s environmental, social, and governance practices.