Universal Standards
Setting a new global benchmark for sustainability reporting
The importance of these Standards
The revised Universal Standards represent the most significant update since GRI transitioned from providing guidance to setting standards in 2016.
The Universal Standards strengthen the very foundations of all reporting through GRI, delivering the highest level of transparency for organizational impacts on the economy, environment, and people.
The forward-looking approach that underpinned the revision of the Universal Standards means organizations will be best positioned to use their GRI reporting to respond to emerging regulatory disclosure needs, such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the IFRS plans for enterprise value standards.
The user-friendly modular system enables all reporting organizations to apply the revised Universal Standards alongside the application of the adapted Topic Standards, and the new Sector Standards. For a detailed overview of how to navigate the new GRI Standards system, please read our short introduction to the GRI Standards.
The revised Universal Standards are freely available for download. They are in effect for reporting from 1 January 2023, with early adoption encouraged.
Reporting support and training
To help reporters better navigate the changes made to the Universal Standards a new course has been added to the GRI Academy: Transitioning to the GRI Standards 2021 Update course.
More courses will be added soon. Please check the GRI Academy courses page for regular updates and make sure you are subscribed to receive our Standards-related news.
Basis for conclusions
A 90-day comment public period for the exposure draft of the Standard ran from 11 June to 20 September 2020. You can access 144 submissions from organizations and individuals here.
'Basis for conclusions for the Universal Standards update 2021' provides a summary of the public comments received. It also provides a summary of how the GSSB responded to these comments in the finalization of the Standard.
About the project
Initiated by the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) in 2019, the project aimed to review the GRI Universal Standards, which consist of GRI 101: Foundation 2016, GRI 102: General Disclosures 2016 and GRI 103: Management Approach 2016, to improve the quality and consistency of sustainability reporting as well as how organizations use the Standards to disclose their impact on economy, environment, and people. In particular, the project focused on the following:
- incorporation of human rights disclosures into the GRI Standards
- incorporation of due diligence concept into GRI 103: Management Approach 2016
- consideration of revisions to reporting principles and concepts in GRI 101: Foundation 2016
- consideration of revisions to the reporting model in GRI 101: Foundation 2016
- consideration of revisions to GRI 102: General Disclosures 2016
The review of the Universal Standards was informed by the recommendations of the GRI Technical Committee on Human Rights Disclosure, a stakeholder group on labor-related disclosures.
The project followed the GSSB Due Process Protocol, the implementation of which is overseen by the Due Process Oversight Committee. The final approval was granted on 2 July 2021. The project proposal can be found here.
Related documents
| A Short Introduction to the GRI Standards | file | 04 Oct 2021 | English | 369 KB | |
| GRI Universal Standards 2021 - FAQs | file | 01 Dec 2022 | English | 277 KB | |
| Mapping between Universal Standards 2021 and Universal Standards 2016 | file | 04 Oct 2021 | English | 154 KB | |
| GRI Universal Standards explanatory memorandum | file | 19 Sep 2020 | English | 349 KB | |
| GSSB Due Process Protocol 2018 | file | 18 Oct 2018 | English | 213 KB | |
| GSSB Terms of Reference | file | 18 Oct 2018 | English | 108 KB | |
| GSSB Work Program 2017-2019 | file | 31 Jan 2018 | English | 320 KB | |
| GRI Universal Standards Project –GSSB basis for conclusions | file | 04 Oct 2021 | English | 393 KB | |
| GRI 1: Foundation 2021 | 05 Oct 2021 |
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