Digital Sustainability Taxonomy Unveiled by GRI for Machine-Friendly Environmental Disclosures
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has taken a significant step forward in the realm of sustainability reporting with the launch of its new Sustainability Taxonomy. This innovative tool is designed to streamline the process of sharing and analyzing sustainability information, making it faster and more efficient for both reporting organizations and data users.
At its core, the new Sustainability Taxonomy is a machine-readable version of the globally accepted GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards. It allows organizations to share data in a structured digital format based on XBRL, enabling digital reports to be submitted directly to GRI. This move is expected to revolutionize the reporting process, making it more accessible and user-friendly.
The GRI's Sustainability Taxonomy aims to enhance interoperability with other sustainability reporting standards, including the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) Standards and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). While the ISSB Standards are currently undergoing active updates and consultations, with no explicit initial XBRL-based publication date found, the ESRS Exposure Draft with XBRL elements was published on July 30, 2025.
In addition to the new taxonomy, the GRI is also developing training to support reporting organizations in digital reporting and releasing new tools to aid the digital reporting process. These tools are intended to ensure the consistency of reports with the GRI Standards.
The new Sustainability Taxonomy covers all GRI standards, including Universal, Sector, and Topic standards, and is designed to ensure a high level of alignment with the XBRL-based versions of the ISSB and ESRS standards. To further promote compatibility across different regions and countries, the taxonomy aims to facilitate faster data collection and submission of sustainability disclosures.
Filing tools for reporters to verify the consistency of their reports with the GRI Standards will be released in 2025. The GRI is also providing a set of tools for third-party service providers to ease the integration of the new digital taxonomy alongside existing reporting products.
This development is a significant step forward in the digital transformation of sustainability reporting. The GRI's Sustainability Taxonomy is a practical, inclusive tool that helps ensure the GRI Standards remain world-leading and fit for purpose in an ever-evolving digital reporting world. The initiative underscores the GRI's commitment to driving sustainability transparency and accountability in the global business landscape.
- The new Sustainability Taxonomy developed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) aligns with XBRL for digital reporting, allowing organizations to share sustainability data with the industry more efficiently and facilitating faster data collection and submission, thereby enhancing the business landscape's sustainability transparency and accountability.
- The GRI's Sustainability Taxonomy, designed to be machine-readable and based on globally accepted sustainability reporting standards (GRI Standards), aims to increase compatibility with other sustainability reporting standards, including the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) Standards and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
- To ensure the consistent submission of sustainability disclosures, particularly in the realm of data-and-cloud-computing and technology, the GRI is developing training for reporting organizations, releasing new tools for digital reporting, and providing filing tools for reporters to verify their reports' alignment with GRI Standards in 2025.
