Opportunity for Stakeholders in North America To Provide Feedback on Revised GRI Climate Change and Energy Standard Drafts

Nov 17, 2023 1:30 PM ET

GRI North America is pleased to share that the revised Climate Change and Energy Standard drafts were approved by the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) earlier this week. The exposure drafts have been developed by a multi-stakeholder and independent Technical Committee, where the North American perspective was brought into the process by regional representation. US-based Technical Committee members included representatives from Microsoft, GHG Protocol Initiative of the World Research Institute, WWF, and Shift.

The GRI climate change-related Standards, GRI 302: Energy 2016 and GRI 305: Emissions 2016, have been revised to incorporate impacts beyond GHG emissions and energy consumption that reflect stakeholder expectations, to represent updated and internationally agreed best practice and align with recent developments and relevant authoritative intergovernmental instruments in the fields of climate change and energy. The revision also incorporates new topics such as a transition plan, GHG emissions reduction targets, consideration of a just transition, as well as beyond value chain mitigation.

Following the GSSB approval, the public comment period for the drafts Standard will run from November 21st, 2023, until February 29th, 2024. The public comment period (PCP) is a 90-day open consultation, in which all stakeholders are encouraged to submit their feedback on the drafts as well as their views on their completeness and feasibility. The PCP, and addressing the resulting feedback, are critical steps of GRI’s Due Diligence Process. This process helps ensure that the GRI Standards are a vital tool that serves a diverse group of stakeholders, aiding progress toward a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.

GRI will be hosting a global launch webinar on November 28th, 2023, at 11 AM (ET) to mark the start of the public comment period on the Climate Change and Energy Standard exposure drafts. The session will cover key highlights, new disclosures and discuss how stakeholders can participate and provide feedback for the ongoing improvement of the Standards.

To join the webinar, please register here.