The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)

By ITF

The Global Reporting Initiative is one of a plethora of corporate social responsibility initiatives that have sprung up. This one is approved by the United Nations.

It was launched in 1997 by the UN Environment Program and the NGO Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies. It became a permanent independent institution in 2002. Its structure has a multi-stakeholder approach, including trade unions.

The GRI encourages companies to produce sustainability reports that are broader than just being about the environment. They include economic, environmental and social performance: so-called Triple Bottom Line reporting. Social performance includes a range of issues of interest to unions, for example a company's impact on human rights. It also includes "social justice at the workplace" and the company's health and safety performance.

The GRI is relevant to unions. A number of global union federations have participated in GRI Working Groups. The International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) has recently been invited to participate in a GRI multi-stakeholder working group on transportation and logistics which includes such companies as UPS and DHL.

The GRI is entirely voluntary but commitment of companies to the process could be extremely useful to trade unions seeking to establish global social standards. Anything that prises more corporate information into public view is useful.

(Transport International; issue 18, January-March 2005)