Update from ISSB and GRI on ongoing collaboration

The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in March 2022 that committed the two organisations to seeking to coordinate work programmes and standard-setting activities.

In May 2022, technical representatives from both organisations met to to begin work on delivering the agreed MoU. Among the initiatives discussed were:  

• An agreed schedule of meetings and roadmap to advance technical aspects of the collaboration;
• A mapping exercise to establish equivalent requirements in the ISSB’s General Requirements and Climate Exposure Drafts and GRI Standards;
• A comparison exercise of ISSB’s General Features and Qualitative Characteristics of Information in the General Requirements Exposure Draft with GRI 1: Foundation;
• The development of a methodology to cross-reference between guidance and other materials produced by both organisations;
• An examination of future priorities to maximise joint standard-setting and guidance development activities;
• The development of a full articulation of the ways in which the standards developed by GRI and ISSB respectively are complementary or diverge, together with explanations; and
• GRI staff outlined initial directions of their proposed feedback to the consultation by the EFRAG on the EU Sustainability Reporting Standards.

The press release by the IFRS Foundation may be accessed here.