VIEWS: Sustainability Reporting and G3

Last week, Strategic Sustainability Consulting submitted feedback to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) concerning their new edition of sustainability reporting guidelines, G3. Our comment represents a coalition effort of business, academic, and NGO communities from eight different countries--all who believe that GRI can be improved further. Our main point:

Our main concern, however, is that the G3 Guidelines (like the 2002 Guidelines) do not provide an appropriate context for reporting on performance indicators—namely, a definition of sustainability that is both scientifically sound and directly measurable. While the G3 Guidelines provide an excellent structure for reporting on economic, environmental, and social issues, this lack of a rigorous definition of sustainability means that reporting organizations cannot truly be held accountable for their progress towards sustainable development. Indeed, without an explicit recognition of the constraints underlying sustainability, organizations may not even internally understand the requirements of a sustainable society.

You can read the whole document (2 pages) here.