GRI readiness
A practical self-assessment.
Downloadable checklist included.
Answer a short set of questions aligned to the GRI Universal Standards (GRI 1/2/3). Get an instant score, identify your biggest gaps, and download a PDF checklist to assign owners and close them.
What you’ll get
This assessment is designed for sustainability teams that want a fast, structured view of their readiness for GRI-aligned reporting—without a long audit engagement up front.
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Take the free assessment
Answer a short set of questions aligned to the GRI Universal Standards (GRI 1/2/3). You’ll get an overall readiness score, section scores, and a downloadable checklist to close the gaps.
Program setup
Foundations for running a repeatable reporting cycle: ownership, governance, and a plan.
You have a named executive sponsor and a named owner responsible for the GRI reporting program.
Why it matters: Clear accountability is the fastest way to reduce delays, last-minute scrambling, and inconsistent disclosures.
Checklist task: Assign an executive sponsor and a single accountable owner for the GRI reporting program.
Suggested owner: Sustainability lead + executive sponsor
Evidence to collect: Org chart snippet, reporting charter, RACI, leadership approval email/slide.
You have a cross-functional working group (e.g., ESG/Finance/HR/Legal/Ops) with clear responsibilities and meeting cadence.
Why it matters: GRI disclosures span multiple teams; without a structured working group, data collection and review break down.
Checklist task: Form a cross-functional working group and define roles, cadence, and escalation paths.
Suggested owner: Sustainability lead / PMO
Evidence to collect: Meeting cadence, attendee list, roles & responsibilities, decision log.
You have a documented reporting plan (timeline, milestones, internal review, sign-off, publication).
Why it matters: A written plan turns reporting into an operational process and prevents last-minute gaps.
Checklist task: Create and maintain a reporting plan with milestones, review gates, and final sign-off.
Suggested owner: Sustainability lead / PMO
Evidence to collect: Project plan, calendar, milestones, review checklist, sign-off steps.
Reporting boundary & organizational profile
Define what’s in scope and ensure you can consistently describe your organization and reporting practice.
You have defined the reporting boundary (entities/sites included) and can explain how the boundary was determined.
Why it matters: Scope clarity prevents inconsistent numbers and confusion across years and stakeholders.
Checklist task: Define the reporting boundary and document which entities/sites are included and why.
Suggested owner: Finance + sustainability lead
Evidence to collect: Entity list, consolidation notes, boundary rationale, org structure diagram.
You can produce core organizational profile and reporting practice information consistently each year (activities, workforce scale, locations, reporting period, contact point, corrections/restatements).
Why it matters: Consistency improves credibility and makes comparisons across years possible.
Checklist task: Standardize your organizational profile and reporting practice disclosures (including a corrections/restatements process).
Suggested owner: Sustainability lead + communications
Evidence to collect: Standard disclosure template, reporting calendar, contact point, corrections policy.
Governance & ethics
Ensure governance oversight exists and key policies and compliance processes are real and reportable.
You can describe governance oversight for sustainability topics (who oversees what, and how oversight is exercised).
Why it matters: Stakeholders expect clear oversight and accountability for sustainability impacts and commitments.
Checklist task: Document sustainability governance oversight (committees, responsibilities, and decision-making).
Suggested owner: Legal / company secretary + sustainability lead
Evidence to collect: Governance policy, committee charter, meeting minutes, oversight reporting pack.
Core ethics/compliance policies exist and you can evidence implementation (training, incidents, grievance channels).
Why it matters: Policies without evidence are hard to defend; auditable tracking improves trust and reduces risk.
Checklist task: Maintain core ethics/compliance policies and establish evidence of implementation (training + incident tracking).
Suggested owner: Legal + HR
Evidence to collect: Policies, training records, hotline/grievance stats, incident register.
Stakeholder engagement
Confirm you know who your stakeholders are and can show how engagement influences reporting decisions.
You have identified key stakeholder groups and have a documented engagement approach with records of engagement.
Why it matters: Stakeholder engagement is a core input to materiality and helps validate your report’s relevance.
Checklist task: Map stakeholder groups and document engagement channels and engagement records.
Suggested owner: Sustainability lead + communications
Evidence to collect: Stakeholder map, engagement plan, survey/interview notes, engagement calendar.
You can show how stakeholder input influences materiality, priorities, and disclosures (with an audit trail).
Why it matters: Being able to trace decisions back to stakeholder input increases credibility and defensibility.
Checklist task: Create an audit trail from stakeholder input to decisions (material topics, priorities, actions).
Suggested owner: Sustainability lead
Evidence to collect: Decision log, materiality workshop outputs, linkage from input → decision → disclosure.
Materiality (GRI 3) readiness
Validate you can determine material topics and describe where and how impacts occur.
You have a documented process to determine material topics (criteria, thresholds, and review frequency).
Why it matters: Materiality is the backbone of a GRI-aligned report—without it, disclosures become arbitrary.
Checklist task: Document your materiality process: criteria, thresholds, and review cadence.
Suggested owner: Sustainability lead
Evidence to collect: Materiality methodology, scoring rubric, workshop agenda, criteria definition.
You have a current list of material topics that is approved and reviewed on a schedule.
Why it matters: A maintained and approved list reduces omissions and supports consistent reporting year over year.
Checklist task: Maintain an approved, current list of material topics with a defined review/approval cycle.
Suggested owner: ESG governance group
Evidence to collect: Material topics register, approval record, change log between periods.
For each material topic, you can describe key impacts (actual/potential), where they occur (operations/value chain), and who is affected.
Why it matters: Clear impact descriptions make disclosures more decision-useful and defensible.
Checklist task: Create impact summaries per material topic (what, where, who) and keep them current.
Suggested owner: Topic owners + sustainability lead
Evidence to collect: Impact descriptions, risk registers, value chain mapping, stakeholder input summaries.
Managing material topics
Ensure you can explain how material topics are managed and how performance is monitored.
For each material topic, you have a defined management approach (policies, actions, targets) and responsible owners.
Why it matters: Stakeholders want to understand not just what matters, but how you manage what matters.
Checklist task: Define a management approach per material topic (policy/actions/targets/owner).
Suggested owner: Topic owners
Evidence to collect: Policies, action plans, targets, owner assignments, governance review notes.
You track KPIs for material topics with a defined cadence and can evidence results for the reporting period.
Why it matters: KPIs provide measurable proof of performance and progress.
Checklist task: Define KPIs and monitoring cadence per material topic, and capture results for the reporting period.
Suggested owner: Data owners + sustainability lead
Evidence to collect: KPI definitions, dashboards, source extracts, review meeting notes.
Data, controls & auditability
Confirm you can collect, validate, and evidence disclosures with a clear audit trail.
You have an inventory of required disclosure data points with a system-of-record and a named data owner for each.
Why it matters: Data ownership and systems clarity reduces delays and improves data quality.
Checklist task: Build a data inventory and assign a system-of-record and owner for each disclosure data point.
Suggested owner: Sustainability data lead / PMO
Evidence to collect: Data inventory spreadsheet, system map, owner list, update cadence.
You can trace key numbers and statements back to source evidence (documents, invoices, logs) with versioning.
Why it matters: Traceability is essential for assurance, stakeholder trust, and internal confidence.
Checklist task: Implement evidence traceability for key disclosures (source → transformation → reported figure).
Suggested owner: Sustainability data lead + finance
Evidence to collect: Evidence repository links, source documents, transformation notes, version history.
You have documented methodologies and internal controls for calculations and estimates (including assumptions and change control).
Why it matters: Transparent methodology and controls reduce errors and make disclosures defensible.
Checklist task: Document calculation/estimation methodologies and implement change control and review controls.
Suggested owner: Sustainability lead + finance
Evidence to collect: Methodology notes, assumptions register, review checklist, change log.
General topic readiness
High-level check that you can support common topic disclosures with owners, data, and evidence.
Workforce data is available and reviewable (e.g., headcount, turnover, training, health & safety) with clear owners.
Why it matters: Workforce disclosures are common; HR data readiness prevents gaps and inconsistent reporting.
Checklist task: Confirm workforce topic readiness: define owners, data sources, and review process for key workforce metrics.
Suggested owner: HR
Evidence to collect: HRIS extracts, metric definitions, training logs, H&S records, review notes.
Environmental data is available and traceable (e.g., energy, emissions, water, waste) with defined collection processes.
Why it matters: Environmental disclosures often require multi-source data and careful traceability.
Checklist task: Confirm environmental topic readiness: define data sources, collection cadence, and traceability for key metrics.
Suggested owner: EHS / facilities + sustainability
Evidence to collect: Utility invoices, meter reads, calculation notes, waste manifests, evidence links.
Supply chain/value chain data collection is feasible (key suppliers identified and a process exists to collect sustainability information).
Why it matters: Many sustainability impacts occur in the value chain; supplier readiness affects coverage and credibility.
Checklist task: Confirm value chain readiness: identify key suppliers and implement a process to collect sustainability data and evidence.
Suggested owner: Procurement + sustainability
Evidence to collect: Supplier list, supplier questionnaire, engagement tracking, assessment results.
Publication & assurance
Confirm you can draft, review, and publish with clear approvals and an assurance-ready evidence package.
You understand the difference between reporting 'in accordance with' vs 'with reference to' the GRI Standards and have decided which applies to your report.
Why it matters: GRI distinguishes these levels: 'in accordance' requires meeting all applicable requirements; 'with reference' allows selective use. Clarity prevents mislabeling your report.
Checklist task: Decide whether to report 'in accordance with' (full compliance) or 'with reference to' (partial use) the GRI Standards, and document the rationale.
Suggested owner: Sustainability lead
Evidence to collect: Decision memo, statement of use draft, gap assessment if claiming 'in accordance'.
You can produce a GRI Content Index that lists each disclosure, its location, and any omissions with explanations.
Why it matters: The GRI Content Index is required for 'in accordance' reporting and helps stakeholders navigate your disclosures. Organizations must also notify GRI before publishing a report claiming to be 'in accordance'.
Checklist task: Build a GRI Content Index template and process to populate it with disclosure locations and omission explanations.
Suggested owner: Sustainability lead
Evidence to collect: Content Index template, disclosure-to-page mapping, omissions register with rationale.
You have a drafting workflow with internal review, versioning, and final sign-off.
Why it matters: A structured drafting workflow reduces inconsistencies and ensures accountability for final claims.
Checklist task: Implement a drafting workflow with version control, review gates, and final sign-off.
Suggested owner: Sustainability lead + communications
Evidence to collect: Drafting workflow, review checklist, versioning approach, sign-off record.
You can efficiently support external assurance (or an internal audit review) with evidence packs for key disclosures.
Why it matters: Assurance readiness improves trust and reduces the time and cost of audits.
Checklist task: Prepare an assurance-ready evidence pack for key disclosures and define an assurance approach.
Suggested owner: Sustainability lead + finance / internal audit
Evidence to collect: Evidence pack structure, sample evidence set, auditor Q&A log, internal audit review notes.
Methodology
This is a practical readiness tool based on common implementation patterns for the GRI Universal Standards (GRI 1/2/3). It is not a formal audit, certification, or legal assessment.
Sector Standards note: GRI has published Sector Standards for certain industries (e.g., Oil & Gas, Coal, Agriculture). If your organization operates in a sector with a published standard, you should review those additional requirements separately. This assessment covers the Universal Standards only.
Last updated: 2025-12-29
Sources
For official guidance and the latest standards, refer to GRI’s resources directly.
Note: This page is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
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