Agnostic
GRI Standards
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.
For organisations
Use this resource to:
- Measure sustainability performance: 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.
- Disclose: Report to all stakeholders on ‘material topics’ that reflect the organisation’s most significant impacts.
For investors and financial institutions
Use this resource to:
- Assess: Assets use the measurement and disclosure standards and guidance for organisations, and investors can provide capacity to help adherence.
SDG Impact Standards for Enterprises
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.
- Governance, strategy, and management approach:
- Set and revise objectives:
- 1.1.1 / 1.1.2 / 1.1.3 / 1.1.4 / 1.1.5 / 1.1.6 / 1.1.7 / 1.1.8 / 1.1.9 / 1.1.10 / 1.1.11
- 1.2.1 / 1.2.2 / 1.2.3 / 1.2.4 / 1.2.5 / 1.2.6 / 1.2.7
- Identify sustainability topics:
- Measure sustainability performance:
- Assess impact:
- Estimate value created:
- Verify:
- Integrate and act:
- Disclose:
Non-Authoritative Guidance on Applying ISAE 300 (Revised) Extended External Reporting (EER) Assurance Engagements
Outlines the key stages of an assurance engagement, expectations of assurance professionals, and common types of information included in Extended External Reporting (EER) assurance engagements. The guidance has been developed to support assurers who are applying the ISAE 3000.
Use this resource to:
- Verify: This guidance is not aimed at organisations but provides detailed information on issues that arise when assuring EER such as sustainability performance information, which organisations may still find useful.
International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 (Revised)
A standard for assurance professionals that covers any assurance engagement other than audits or reviews of historical financial information.
Relevance to Organisations:
- Verify: Organisations may require that their third-party assurance providers apply this standard to ensure adherence to global best practices.
CDP’s Disclosure System
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.
For organisations
Use this resource to:
- Identify sustainability topics: Fill in CDP’s questionnaires to understand the relevant climate change, forests and water security impacts to measure, based on the organization’s size, sector, and geography.
- Measure sustainability performance: Use CDP’s questionnaires as sets of environmental metrics.
- Assess impact: Fill in the questionnaires to track change in performance over time. Each question is scored – some with reference to social or ecological thresholds – to help the organisation determine whether it is performing sustainably on that topic.
- Disclose: 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.
- Benchmark: Tool allows companies to benchmark their environmental performance against their industry peers and receive feedback on their progress each year. The information disclosed is also used by financial markets for stewardship and engagement, in investment research, new financial products, and global indices and ratings.
For investors and financial institutions
Use this resource to:
- Identify: Use CDP’s questionnaires to understand the relevant climate change, forests and water security impacts to measure.
- Assess: CDP holds the most comprehensive collection of corporate environmental data globally, and the questionnaire is now aligned with the TCFD recommendations. CDP data is disseminated throughout the market, and investors access and use the data in their own investment practices.
- Monitor: Every year, investors working with CDP request environmental information by asking companies to respond to our questionnaires on climate change, deforestation and water security. These investors can then access the companies’ responses and can use the data and insights in their own investment process.
- Benchmark: CDP scores allow companies to benchmark their environmental performance against their industry peers and receive feedback on their progress each year. The information disclosed is also used by financial markets for stewardship and engagement, in investment research, new financial products, and global indices and ratings.
GRI Topic-specific Standards
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.
For organisations
Use this resource to:
- Measure sustainability performance: 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.
- Disclose: Report to all stakeholders on ‘material topics’ that reflect the organisation’s most significant impacts.
For investors and financial institutions
Use this resource to:
- Identify: Refer to the Sector Standards as a starting point for identifying likely significant impacts.
- Disclose: 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.
Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative Research
Research on impact valuation published in the form of case studies and white papers. Specific illustrative examples are provided for product impact.
For organisations
Use this resource to:
- Estimate value created: Use research to learn about key considerations when monetising impact, using publicly available information on companies.
For investors and financial institutions
Use this resource to:
- Assess: Learn about the key considerations when monetising impact, using publicly available information on companies.
SDG Impact Seal and Assurance Framework
Forthcoming: Assurance criteria for demonstrating adherence to the SDG Impact Standards for Enterprises, Private Equity Funds or Bonds, and associated certification.
For organisations
Use this resource to:
- Verify: Certify that an organisation’s systems and processes adhere to the SDG Impact Standards.
For investors and financial institutions
Use this resource to:
- Assess: Review certifications from underlying assets to check their systems and processes adhere to the SDG Impact Standards.
Integrated Reporting Framework
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.
For organisations
Use this resource to:
- Integrate and act: Follow integrated thinking principles to improve the organisation’s understanding of the connectivity and interdependencies between the range of factors that affect an organisation’s ability to create value over time.
- Disclose: Report to providers of financial capital on sustainability topics that are likely to affect value creation over the short-, medium-, and long-term.
For investors and financial institutions
Use this resource to:
- Disclose: Report on sustainability topics that are likely to affect value creation over the short-, medium-, and long-term.
CDSB Framework for Reporting Environmental and Climate Change Information
This reporting framework offers companies seven guiding principles and 12 reporting requirements to help prepare (financially) material and decision-useful environmental disclosures for the mainstream report. CDSB additionally offers topic-specific guidance for companies, such as on climate-related reporting and climate accounting.
For organisations
Use this resource to:
- Integrate and act: Understand how to prepare environmental and climate change information in a way that connects to mainstream financial information.
- Disclose: Report on financially material environmental and climate change information.
For investors and financial institutions
Use this resource to:
- Assess: Understand the measurement and disclosure standards and guidance for organisations, so that investors can provide capacity to the asset to help adherence.
- Disclose: Understand how underlying assets might prepare environmental and climate change information in a way that connects to mainstream financial information.