GRI and the World Benchmarking Alliance published analysis on the role of corporate reporting in achieving social sustainability outcomes

There is a direct correlation between the proper utilization GRI Standards and a stronger corporate social performance. This is what emerges from How to strengthen corporate accountability: The case for unlocking sustainable corporate performance through mandatory corporate reporting, jointly published by GRI and World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA).  

At the halfway point to achieving the SDGs, many targets remain off track. According to the new report, governments must lead business engagement and ensure corporate efforts have a real impact on sustainable development, a process for which clear benchmarking is pivotal.  

The publication examines the relationship between the utilization of the GRI Standards and companies’ social performance, measured against two criteria: 

1. The WBA Social Benchmark: a ranking of 2,000 influential companies based on their contributions to social sustainability, with a focus on human rights, decent work, and ethical practices; 
2. WBA’s Core Social Indicators (CSIs): the assessment for how such contributions are measured. 

The research indicates that strong adherence to globally recognized reporting standards can be linked to improved social sustainability outcomes. The findings include: 

• There is clear evidence that companies that publish a sustainability report with a GRI Content Index achieve significantly better results in CSIs, scoring at least 47% higher than other companies in WBA’s Social Benchmark; 

• Organizations that report in accordance with the GRI Standards consistently outperform those that only with reference to the Standards; 
• Companies with the highest CSI scores correlate with those that follow the GRI Standards for reporting.