GRI Future Developments
GRI Standards continue to evolve — with new Sector Standards in development, digital taxonomy work underway, interoperability improvements with ESRS and ISSB, and a growing role in the global sustainability disclosure architecture. Here is what is coming next and how to prepare.
GRI Standards continue to evolve — with new Sector Standards in development, digital taxonomy work underway, interoperability improvements with ESRS and ISSB, and a growing role in the global sustainability disclosure architecture. GRI has committed to developing Sector Standards for 40+ industries — covering the full range of economic sectors with significant sustainability impacts.
New GRI Sector Standards in the pipeline
GRI has committed to developing Sector Standards for 40+ industries — covering the full range of economic sectors with significant sustainability impacts. As of 2026, four Sector Standards have been published: GRI 11 (Oil and Gas), GRI 12 (Coal), GRI 13 (Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fishing), and GRI 14 (Mining).
Sector Standards in active development as of 2026: Financial Services — covering banks, insurance, and asset management, with particular focus on financed activities as the primary impact category. Electric Utilities — covering power generation and distribution, with emphasis on renewable energy transition and grid management. Real Estate — covering property development, ownership, and management with focus on building energy performance and tenant wellbeing. Food Processing — extending GRI 13 into processed food manufacturing. Textiles and Apparel — covering fashion supply chain impacts.
For companies in sectors with forthcoming Sector Standards: monitor GRI announcements. When a Sector Standard for your sector is published, it becomes mandatory for GRI reporters in that sector — you must apply it from the effective date. Companies in high-risk sectors (financial services, real estate) should anticipate sector standard requirements and build data infrastructure accordingly.
For CSRD companies in these sectors: EFRAG is also developing sector-specific ESRS for the same sectors — oil and gas, mining, agriculture, road transport, energy production, and financial services. GRI Sector Standards and ESRS sector standards are developed with interoperability in mind — where both exist, the data requirements will overlap significantly.
GRI and the interoperability agenda
GRI is actively pursuing interoperability with ESRS and ISSB — recognising that companies cannot sustain multiple parallel data collection programmes for overlapping frameworks.
GRI-ESRS concordance: GRI and EFRAG maintain a joint concordance table showing how GRI disclosures map to ESRS requirements. This table allows companies to identify where one disclosure satisfies both frameworks — reducing duplication. The concordance is updated when ESRS standards are amended. Download the current version from both globalreporting.org and efrag.org.
GRI-ISSB joint statement: GRI and the IFRS Foundation (ISSB) published a joint statement in 2023 clarifying that their frameworks are complementary — GRI covers impact materiality; ISSB covers financial materiality. Companies should use both for comprehensive disclosure. The joint statement explicitly endorses the use of both frameworks without treating them as competing.
CDP-GRI alignment: CDP questionnaires reference GRI standards extensively — CDP Climate questionnaire references GRI 305; CDP Water references GRI 303; CDP Forests references GRI 304. Companies responding to CDP are partially satisfying GRI requirements simultaneously. This alignment reduces the marginal cost of maintaining both CDP and GRI disclosures.
Future convergence: The direction of travel is toward a single global sustainability disclosure architecture — with ISSB for investor-focused financial materiality, GRI for impact materiality, and CSRD/ESRS as the EU mandatory implementation covering both. GRI plays a foundational role in this architecture as the global impact materiality standard.
GRI Standards review — Universal Standards update
GRI periodically reviews its Universal Standards — GRI 1 (Foundation), GRI 2 (General Disclosures), and GRI 3 (Material Topics). The 2021 revision was a major overhaul; the next review cycle is underway.
Areas under consideration for the next Universal Standards revision: Strengthening the due diligence requirement — aligning GRI 3 impact identification more explicitly with UNGP and CSDDD due diligence frameworks. Nature and biodiversity integration — updating GRI 1 principles to explicitly address nature alongside climate. Digital reporting — embedding machine-readable reporting requirements as digital taxonomy development matures. Assurance strengthening — increasing the assurance expectation for GRI reporters to align with CSRD's mandatory assurance direction.
Implications for current reporters: The 2021 Standards will remain in force until a new version is published — companies should not anticipate imminent mandatory changes. However, building programmes to the higher due diligence standards already embedded in CSDDD and ESRS anticipates the likely direction of GRI Universal Standards evolution.
GRI database and transparency: The GRI Sustainability Disclosure Database (database.globalreporting.org) provides public access to GRI-aligned reports from 15,000+ organisations globally. Publishing your GRI report and submitting a notification to GRI for inclusion in the database increases visibility with ESG rating agencies, investors, and procurement assessors who use the database for data collection.
Frequently asked questions
Will GRI eventually mandate assurance for GRI-aligned reports?
This is under discussion in GRI's development agenda — the direction of travel is toward stronger assurance expectations. However, given GRI's voluntary nature and global application across contexts where assurance capacity varies significantly, a universal assurance mandate is unlikely in the near term. Investor expectations and national regulatory requirements (CSRD, Australian ASRS) are driving assurance adoption more rapidly than GRI's own standards.
How do we stay current with GRI Standards changes?
Subscribe to GRI's newsletter and monitor globalreporting.org. GRI provides advance notice of new Sector Standard publication, draft standards for public consultation, and updated concordance tables. For companies in sectors with forthcoming Sector Standards, participate in public consultation processes — this provides advance insight into requirements and an opportunity to shape the final standard.
Is GRI losing relevance as CSRD and ISSB become mandatory?
No — GRI retains a unique role as the global impact materiality standard and voluntary framework for non-CSRD companies. For EU companies, ESRS covers GRI's CSRD-relevant content — but GRI provides additional impact materiality depth and a globally recognised voluntary framework for stakeholder communication. For non-EU companies, GRI remains the primary sustainability reporting framework and ISSB does not replace GRI's impact materiality scope.