DAY 1 AT THE GRI 2013 SUSTAINABILITY CONFERENCE

23/05/2013
The sun shone in Amsterdam yesterday. The weather forecast was overcast and wet, but finally the sun came out. And the same could be said to be true for the GRI G4 guidelines.

Personally having participated and given my feedback throughout the whole process and having read the draft published almost a year ago for public comment, I must confess the prediction was pretty gloomy. But fortunately the GRI had an ace up its sleeve and the sun shone through!

The conference’s open plenary started very well with Jo Cofino moderating with Achim Steiner, UNEP and Georg Kell UN Global Compact, followed by Sharan Burrow, International Trade Union Confederation. Brilliant presentations tackling head on the key areas for addressing sustainability: environment, society and people.

The G4 guidelines are also going to contribute to tackling the sustainability challenges. G4 has successfully evolved from a compliance box ticking exercise to opening the door to transformative reporting enabling organisations of any size to focus on those material issues upon which they can make a difference.

Greenwashers beware, G4 is only recommended for those genuinely committed to sustainability!