Universal Standards
GRI 1, GRI 2 and GRI 3 apply to every organization that reports with GRI. They set the reporting principles, the disclosures about how you are run, and the materiality process.
The GRI Standards
The GRI Standards, explained in plain language.
The Global Reporting Initiative publishes the world's most widely used framework for sustainability reporting. Here is how its standards fit together — and what each family is for.
One system, three layers
How the standards fit together.
A GRI report is built by combining all three layers: the Universal Standards always apply, the relevant Sector Standard tells you where to look first, and the Topic Standards you select cover your most significant impacts.
Sector Standards
GRI 11 onwards provide the likely impacts for your industry, so organizations in the same sector start from a shared, comparable baseline.
Topic Standards
The 200, 300 and 400 series cover individual economic, environmental and social topics. You use the ones your materiality assessment says are most significant.
Apply to everyone
The Universal Standards.
Foundation 2021
The starting point. It defines what sustainability reporting is for, the ten reporting principles (such as accuracy, comparability and verifiability), and the requirements every reported statement must meet.
General Disclosures 2021
The report's foundations: organizational details, activities, workers, governance, strategy, policies, and how stakeholders were engaged. These disclosures appear in every GRI report regardless of sector or material topics.
Material Topics 2021
The process behind the report: how you identify and assess impacts, determine your material topics, and manage each one. It anchors why the topics you report on were chosen.
The standards were revised in 2021, so current reports reference GRI 1, GRI 2 and GRI 3 — not the older GRI 101/102/103 series.
Industry-specific
The Sector Standards.
Each Sector Standard lists the topics and disclosures that are likely to be material for that industry. You use one only if it exists for your sector — otherwise you work directly from the Universal and Topic Standards. More sectors are added over time.
Oil and Gas (2021)
Coal (2022)
Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fishing (2022)
Mining (2022)
Renewable Energy (2024)
Upcoming financial services standards.
Approved by GRI’s Global Sustainability Standards Board in September 2026, these three standards are scheduled for a global launch in 2027. They address the sustainability impacts of financial services, including financing and underwriting activities.
GRI 16Upcoming
Banking Sector 2027
GRI 17Upcoming
Capital Markets Sector 2027
GRI 18Upcoming
Insurance Sector 2027
The upcoming standard codes link to GRI’s project page, where the final approved texts and launch updates are available.
Pick what is material
The Topic Standards.
Each Topic Standard contains specific disclosures (numbered like "GRI 305-1" for direct greenhouse gas emissions). You report against the ones your materiality process selects — not every standard in every report.
Standard codes link to official GRI resources at globalreporting.org (opens in a new tab).
GRI 200
Economic
GRI 300
Environmental
Not listed above: GRI 101 Biodiversity 2024 (which gradually replaces GRI 304), plus further standards such as GRI 402, 407–412, 415–418. The right selection depends on your materiality assessment — that is exactly what we help you determine.
Reporting evidence
Official ESG data sources & databases.
Government and intergovernmental databases can support your calculations and put your impacts in context. Specialist conservation and research resources help screen location-based risks. The GRI references below indicate relevant topics, not GRI endorsement or automatic compliance.
Start with your own business records.
Use energy bills, meter readings, fuel logs, waste transfer records, payroll, supplier records and financial accounts for your organization's actual disclosures. External data supplies factors, benchmarks or risk context — it does not replace those records. For market-based Scope 2, obtain eligible supplier-specific factors and contractual evidence; a national grid average alone is not enough.
Energy, emissions & waste
GRI 302 · 305 · 306
Emission factors · Free downloads
UK government GHG conversion factors (opens in a new tab)
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)
Annual factors for fuels, transport, business travel and other activities, with methodology and downloadable spreadsheets.
Before using it: Multiply your own activity data by a suitable factor. Match the reporting year, units and geography; UK electricity factors are not Dutch grid factors.
Emission factors · Free database
IPCC Emission Factor Database (opens in a new tab)
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Searchable emission factors and supporting references for energy, industrial processes, agriculture and waste.
Before using it: Designed for greenhouse gas inventories. Check technology, fuel and methodological suitability before applying a factor to a company calculation.
EU benchmarks · Free database
Eurostat database (opens in a new tab)
European Commission · Eurostat
EU energy balances, greenhouse gas emissions, waste generation and treatment, and circular-economy indicators by country and sector.
Before using it: National and sector statistics provide context, not your organization's energy consumption, emissions or waste totals.
Water & biodiversity
GRI 303 · 101 (Biodiversity)
Risk screening · Free mapping tool
Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas (opens in a new tab)
World Resources Institute (WRI)
Location-based screening of baseline water stress and other water risks around your facilities or suppliers.
Before using it: A research-institute resource, not a regulator. Modelled risk indicators do not measure your site's withdrawals, discharges or local impacts.
Spatial data · Access terms apply
Protected Planet (opens in a new tab)
UNEP-WCMC and IUCN
Maps and records of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures for location-based biodiversity screening.
Before using it: Check dataset licences, especially for commercial use. Protected-area proximity is only one input; it does not replace an ecological impact assessment.
Employment, pay & working conditions
GRI 202 · 401 · 403 · 405
Labour benchmarks · Free database
ILOSTAT (opens in a new tab)
International Labour Organization
Country-level employment, earnings, working-time, occupational injury and labour-market indicators, with definitions and downloadable data.
Before using it: Useful for context and risk screening. Your workforce, pay, diversity and incident disclosures still need payroll, HR and health-and-safety records.
International benchmarks · Public database
OECD Data Explorer (opens in a new tab)
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Comparable country indicators on earnings, employment, gender gaps, productivity and environmental performance.
Before using it: Check dataset definitions and country coverage before comparing. Cross-country statistics are not evidence of a company's policies or outcomes.
Dutch & global economic context
GRI 201 · 202 · 203 · 413
Netherlands benchmarks · Open data
CBS StatLine (opens in a new tab)
Statistics Netherlands (CBS)
Dutch statistics on the economy, population, labour market, energy and environment, including regional and sector breakdowns where available.
Before using it: Use for local context and comparisons. Your economic performance, procurement and community impacts require company-specific evidence.
Global benchmarks · Public database
World Bank Open Data (opens in a new tab)
World Bank
Country indicators covering development, income, access to services, energy and the environment for operating-region and supply-chain context.
Before using it: Check the indicator's source, coverage and latest observation year. National averages cannot establish impacts at a particular supplier or site.
Keep a source trail for every estimate.
Record the dataset and publisher, download date, version or reporting year, country, units, calculation method and assumptions. Retain the original file and document any conversions, exclusions and uncertainty. Check access terms and the latest release at the source before each reporting cycle; data may lag behind your reporting year.
In practice
How a report comes together.
- Step 1
Start universal
Report every GRI 2 general disclosure, from governance to stakeholder engagement.
- Step 2
Assess materiality
Follow GRI 3 to identify impacts and select your material topics.
- Step 3
Check your sector
Apply the Sector Standard for your industry to sharpen the topic list.
- Step 4
Report topics
Disclose each material topic with its GRI 200/300/400 disclosures and a content index.
Not sure which standards apply to you?
Run our free readiness checklist for an AI-drafted starting point, or tell us about your organization and we'll map the GRI Standards that matter for your sector and impacts.
This guide is a summary for orientation. The authoritative texts are published by the Global Reporting Initiative at globalreporting.org. We provide GRI Standards-based reporting and consulting.