Communicate

Reporting standards designed to help organisations understand and disclose their impacts in a way that meets the needs of multiple stakeholders. These standards are arranged by a set of Universal Standards that apply to all organisations, and 35 Topic Standards that contain disclosures for impacts related to economic, environmental and social topics.

Use this resource to:

• Strategy:
• Identify: Identify metrics to measure for each significant topic. The standards themselves provide guidance on selecting metrics to report. Using standardised metrics helps the organisation and its stakeholders compare performance with others.
• Measure, assess and value: Identify metrics to measure for each significant topic. The standards themselves provide guidance on selecting metrics to report.
• Communicate: Report to all stakeholders on ‘material topics’ that reflect the organisation’s most significant impacts. Using standardised metrics helps the organisation and its stakeholders compare performance with others.

Reporting standards designed to help organisations understand and disclose their impacts in a way that meets the needs of multiple stakeholders. These standards are arranged by a set of Universal Standards that apply to all organisations, and 35 Topic Standards that contain disclosures for impacts related to economic, environmental and social topics.

Use this resource to:

• Measure, assess and value: The standards themselves provide guidance on selecting metrics to report. Using standardised metrics helps the organisation and its stakeholders compare performance with others.
• Communicate: Report to all stakeholders on ‘material topics’ that reflect the organisation’s most significant impacts.

GRI is developing standards for 40 sectors to compliment their current topic standards.

Use this resource to:

• Identify: Identify sustainability topics to measure using the list of topics listed for each Sector Standard.
• Measure, assess and value: Identify metrics to measure for each significant topic. The standards themselves provide guidance on selecting metrics to report.
• Communicate: Report to all stakeholders on ‘material topics’ that reflect the organisation’s most significant impacts. The Sector Standards are a helpful starting point for identifying likely significant impacts.

Guidance on how to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals into reporting processes.

Use this resource to:

• Communicate: Use the guidance to disclose positive and negative contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Tool for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts. The CDP Disclosure System supports companies in making their environmental impact transparent to stakeholders, better understanding how they can reduce their impact, and act to become environmental leaders.

Use this resource to:

• Measure, assess and value: Track change in performance over time. Each question in the questionnaire is scored – some with reference to social or ecological thresholds – to help the organisation determine whether it is performing sustainably on that topic.
• Communicate: Report to all stakeholders on climate change, forests and water security. The questionnaires provide a framework for companies to report environmental information to their stakeholders covering governance and policy, risks and opportunity management, environmental targets and strategy, and scenario analysis. Receive an A-D grading based on questionnaire responses.

Guidance on core indicators for entity reporting on the contribution towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Use this resource to:

• Understand and implement core indicators for entity reporting on the contribution towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. The guide provides detailed methodologies for calculating these indicators and potential sources of information for data gathering.

This report recommends a set of sector-specific, SDG-related metrics by drawing on metrics from existing standard setters and benchmarks.

The Global Investors for Sustainable Development Alliance (GISD) is a group of 30 large investment firms convened by the United Nations Secretary General. The GISD sits within the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) and aims to scale-up long-term finance and investment in sustainable development.

Use this resource to:

• Measure, assess and value: Identify SDG-related metrics for eight sectors. Organisations can consider measuring the metrics specific to their sector.
• Communicate: Include recommended SDG-related metrics in disclosure to stakeholders.

Reporting standards that provide industry-specific disclosure topics and associated metrics that measure performance against 26 General Issue Categories (or sustainability topics). Management or mismanagement of performance on these sustainability topics may create, preserve or erode value for the typical company in a given industry over time.

Use this resource to:

• Identify: Understand whether a given topic is reasonably likely to materially affect the financial condition, operating performance, or risk profile of a typical company within an industry. Find industry-specific topics and accounting metrics. The standards themselves provide guidance on selecting metrics to report. Using standardised metrics helps the organisation and its stakeholders compare performance with others.
• Communicate: Report to providers of financial capital on sustainability topics that are likely to affect how value is created, sustained or eroded for the organisation over the short-, medium-, and long-term.

Guidance that contains disclosure recommendations for information on the material financial impacts of climate-related risks and opportunities, including those related to the global transition to a lower-carbon economy. The TCFD recommendations are structured around the four pillars of Governance, Strategy, Risk Management, and Metrics and Targets.

Use this resource to:

• Communicate: Follow recommendations to structure climate-related financial disclosures. Other voluntary standards can be used in conjunction with TCFD recommendations.

Reporting framework that provides principles-based guidance for organisations seeking to create an integrated report, containing both financial and non-financial information. The guidance is tailored specifically for private sector, for-profit companies, but the Framework can also be applied to the public sector and non-for-profit organisations.

Use this resource to:

• Communicate: Report to providers of financial capital on sustainability topics that are likely to affect value creation over the short-, medium-, and long-term.

Principles that list how organisations should, at a minimum, meet fundamental responsibilities in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. The Ten Principles apply across all geographies in which the enterprise operates, and good practices in one area do not offset harm in another. They draw on several international declarations and other authoritative documents.

This resource calls upon organisations to:

• Strategy: Align strategy with the Ten Principles prioritising societal needs such as the SDGs.
• Governance: Incorporate the Ten Principles into operations to support the SDGs.

Participating in the UN Global Compact requires a commitment from organisations to report annually on efforts to operate responsibly in four areas: human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.

Use this resource to:

• Communicate: Submit an annual Communication on Progress on implementing the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact.

One of the main (and government-backed) international instruments on Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) setting out principles and standards on RBC. Regulators reference them in regulation.

This resource calls upon organisations to:

• Strategy: Align strategy with the expectation to avoid and address negative impacts of their operations, while contributing to sustainable development in the countries where they operate.
• Governance: under construction

• Identify: Set objectives with reference to minimum safeguards on topics such as: human rights, labour relations, employment practices, public health and safety, bribery and extortion, science and technology and taxation.
• Measure, assess and value: under construction
• Implement: Embed due diligence across business operations and in the value chain in order to identify, assess, mitigate, cease and prevent adverse impacts on people
• Communicate: under construction

Practice standards that provide a common language and a system for integrating sustainable development issues, the Sustainable Development Goals and impact management into business and investment decision-making. These practice standards also outline the ‘ABC’ classification methodology, which helps organisations assess whether an impact ‘Acts to reduce harm’, ‘Benefits stakeholders’, or ‘Contributes to solutions’ in relation to the SDGs.

Use this resource to:

Set up processes and embed practices that orient an organisation towards achieving the SDGs. The SDG Impact Standard contains practice indicators that are relevant to several actions. Use the links below to access guidance for different practice indicators. Alternatively, view the whole guidance document here.

The Principles provide the basic building blocks for organisations that want to make decisions whilst taking social value into account. They are intended to help organisations optimise value for all stakeholders materially affected by an organisations activities. Practice Standards are available to help organisations implement each principle to a point where they are accountable for their activities and are making decisions to optimise value.

Use this resource to:

• Set up processes to include social value data in management decision-making.

Certification awarded when an organisation achieves a score of 80 on the B Impact Assessment.

Use this resource to:

• Become B Corp Certified. Organisations undergo verification including interviews, submitting documentation, and as necessary site reviews, to increase confidence that the company’s score is accurate and the required 80-point score has been achieved.

Tool to report on responsible investment activities annually.

This resource calls upon organisations to:

• Communicate: Report on firm-wide and portfolio or strategy-specific investment practices.

Principles describe essential features of managing investments into companies or other organisations with the intent to contribute to measurable positive social or environmental impact alongside financial returns.

This resource has mandatory requirements for signatories.

This resource calls upon organisations to:

• Strategy: Define strategic impact objectives consistent with the investment strategy alongside managing strategic impact on a portfolio basis.
• Governance: Commit to following the principles and periodically having progress of adoption independently verified. The Principles can be applied to an entire investing organisation or an individual fund.
• Identify: under construction
• Measure, assess and value: Assess potential negative impacts of each investment.
• Set targets and plan: under construction
• Implement: Respond appropriately to information on actual and potential impacts.
• Communicate: Use Principle 9 to enable public disclosure of alignment with the Principles.

Practice standards that provide a common language and a system for integrating sustainable development issues, the Sustainable Development Goals and impact management into business and investment decision-making.

This resource calls upon organisations to

• Measure, Assess and Value: Develop an impact management and measurement framework
• Set targets and plan: Set portfolio level impact goals.
• Implement: under construction
• Verification, assurance and certification: Disclose how the SDGs and sustainability are integrated into decision-making and report on performance

Signatories to the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB) must use the reporting and self-assessment template as part of the requirements of the Principles.

Use this resource to:

• Show progress on implementing the Principles for Responsible Banking;
• Provide transparency about impacts and contributions; and
• Assess if PRB requirements are being met and obtain assurance.

Practice standards to support donors in the deployment of public resources through DFIs and private asset managers, in a way that maximises the positive contribution towards the SDGs. The Standards are harmonised in approach with the UNDP SDG Impact Standards suite, the IS-FSD constitute a framework, ensuring that collectively (with the SDG Impact Standards for PE Funds, Bond Issuers and Enterprises) they help to connect actors across the system using a common language and approach for integrating SDG impacts in the investment strategy and throughout the investment process and governance structures.

This resource calls upon organisations to:

• Strategy: Set impact objectives framed in terms of the SDGs and country priorities
• Governance: Set up processes and embed practices that are aligned with the SDG Impact Standards.
• Measure, assess and value: Understand whether all relevant information is being actioned to understand impact. The Standards outline how baselines, social/ ecological thresholds and other contextual information should be included in assessment of whether an underlying asset is contributing to the SDGs.
• Set targets and plan: under construction
• Implement: under construction
• Communicate: Disclose how impacts are managed and measured