Sector Standard for Coal (GRI 12)
A Standard for a just transition
The importance of this Standard
GRI 12: Coal Sector 2022 addresses the need for consistent, high-quality reporting to meet the transparency expectations faced by the coal sector. While global efforts to mitigate climate change require drastic reductions in coal consumption and production, turning the attention away from businesses that continue to operate in the sector could lead to devastating environmental, socio-economic and human rights consequences.
The Standard sets robust expectations for coal organizations to disclose how they respond to the pressing need to transition to a low-carbon economy, and how they manage their impacts along the way. GRI 12 supports any coal organization – irrespective of location, specialism or size. It allows coal producers to effectively disclose their most significant impacts, providing the information stakeholders need to meaningfully engage companies on these impacts and make informed decisions.
Reporting with GRI 12
GRI 12: Coal Sector 2022 is freely available for download. The Standard is used together with the GRI Universal Standards and Topic Standards.
The latest version (V1.1) of GRI 12, published in January 2026, has been aligned with the revised GRI 101: Biodiversity 2024, GRI 102: Climate Change 2025, and GRI 103: Energy 2025 Topic Standards, containing best-in-class disclosures for reporting. The earlier version can be used until 31 December 2026, with early adoption encouraged. See the Sector Program webpage, the alignment project proposal, and the alignment FAQ document for more information, including on the public consultation and effective dates.
About this project
The development of this Standard was prioritized based on the sector’s widely documented impacts across economic, environmental, and social dimensions.
The Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), the independent body responsible for setting the GRI Standards, appointed an expert multi-stakeholder working group to develop the content of the Standard in 2019.
Though the project originally intended to create a Standard applicable to oil, gas, and coal, during the course of the project, the GSSB decided to split its scope and develop separate Standards instead – one for oil and gas, and one for coal. The development of these standards followed different timelines. Learn more and download GRI 11: Oil and Gas Sector 2021 on the project webpage.
The project followed the GSSB Due Process Protocol, the implementation of which was overseen by the Due Process Oversight Committee. The public comment period for the exposure draft of the Standard ran from 19 May to 30 July 2021.
The basis for conclusions for GRI 12 provides a summary of the significant issues raised through public comments. A complete record of the received comments can be found here. It also provides a summary of how the GSSB responded to these comments based on the recommendations of the working group.
For key documents, FAQs, resources and more, see the list at the bottom of this page.
Related documents
| GRI 12: Coal Sector Standard FAQs | file | 14 Mar 2022 | English | 184 KB | |
| GRI Sector Program Description | file | 07 Feb 2019 | English | 449 KB | |
| GRI Sector Program Coal exposure draft | file | 02 Aug 2021 | English | 4.8 MB | |
| Oil, Gas and Coal Sector Standard Project Proposal | file | 26 Mar 2019 | English | 322 KB | |
| GRI Sector Standards project for Coal public comment feedback | file | 26 Aug 2021 | English | 94 KB | |
| Terms of Reference: GRI Project Working Group for the Oil, Gas, and Coal Sector | file | 27 Mar 2019 | English | 266 KB | |
| GSSB Work Program 2020-2022 | file | 01 Dec 2020 | English | 221 KB | |
| GSSB Terms of Reference | file | 18 Oct 2018 | English | 108 KB |
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