We are at a key moment in the evolution of sustainability; transparency is fast becoming the new paradigm for conducting business. The United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have ushered in a new era of global development objectives, aimed at addressing the world’s most pressing problems. The active participation of business is a principle driver in achieving these goals, but best practice for corporate reporting on the SDGs has yet to be established.
The
UN Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, and GRI, the world’s leading organization for sustainability reporting, have formed a ground-breaking action platform to tackle this challenge.
Business Reporting on the SDGs will complement the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards) and the UN Global Compact Communication on Progress, and enable measuring and reporting on the SDGs.
There is growing recognition of the value of corporate non-financial reporting. The Action Platform will leverage the GRI Standards – the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting standards – and the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact to help businesses incorporate SDG reporting into their existing processes. This will empower corporate action that can make the achievements of the SDGs a reality.
The first deliverable, the report
Analysis of the Goals and Targets aims to help companies understand how they impact the SDGs and their targets, by providing a list of indicators to make reporting on the SDGs straightforward and simple to execute. The analysis was presented 21 September 2017 at the UN Global Compact Leaders’ Summit in New York, as part of the UN General Assembly.
View video of the partnership project here:
Expected outcomes of the Business Reporting on the SDGs
As a concrete output, the Business Reporting on the SDGs will offer a mechanism for reporting on the SDGs within GRI Standards and UN Global Compact Communication on Progress. The Action Platform work will also issue recommendation for aligning the two reporting frameworks.
Engaging leading businesses and non-corporate stakeholders
The Action Platform is built from two components:
The
Corporate Action Group (CAG) serves as a business engagement and peer learning forum, where business representatives can demonstrate leadership by helping define and promote their contributions to the SDGs.
The Multi-stakeholder Advisory Committee (MAC) is comprised of the members of the CAG, plus representatives from other stakeholder groups: governments, international and civil society organizations, investors, trade unions, data users, statistical offices and academics. This committee will provide guidance for the research and analysis done by the UN Global Compact and GRI.
- For more information about the Action Platform, you can watch the webinar by GRI and the UN Global Compact organized in February 2017.
- GRI, the UN Global Compact and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) have developed the SDG Compass to support companies in aligning their strategies with the SDGs and in measuring and managing their contribution. The SDG Compass incorporates feedback received through three consultation periods from companies, government agencies, academic institutions and civil society organizations worldwide. The compass includes a linkage document to link the SDGs to the relevant indicators and disclosures in the GRI Standards. For further information, please visit the GRI Standards Resource Download Center or download the full SDG Compass Guide.
Action Platform partners
The Action Platform is a collaborative effort from the UN Global Compact and GRI, with support from the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). The MAC will also collaborate with organizations such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).
The work of the Action Platform is made possible through the strategic, managerial and analytical contribution of PwC and its expert team from four different countries.
Get in touch
For other inquiries and information on how to engage with the Action Platform, please contact Mr. Pietro Bertazzi, GRI (
bertazzi@globalreporting.org) and Mr. Bernhard Frey, UN Global Compact (
freyb@un.org).