IFRS and GRI Move to Make Sustainability Reporting Easier for Companies

The IFRS Foundation and the Global Reporting Initiative have strengthened their cooperation on sustainability reporting standards, aiming to make ESG disclosure more consistent and less burdensome for companies.

Their latest joint statement, published on May 26, 2026, says the two organizations will continue working to align common disclosure requirements between the ISSB Standards and the GRI Standards. The goal is to reduce duplication, fragmentation, and complexity for companies that report under both frameworks.

The two standards serve different but complementary purposes. ISSB Standards focus mainly on sustainability-related risks and opportunities that may affect a company’s financial outlook and are especially relevant to investors. GRI Standards focus more broadly on a company’s impacts on the economy, environment, and people, serving investors as well as other stakeholders.

One area of overlap is climate reporting. The statement notes that companies using IFRS S2 to report Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions under the GHG Protocol may also meet related requirements under GRI 102.

The organizations will also continue cooperation on areas such as nature-related disclosure, sector standards, human capital reporting, and labor-related disclosures. Overall, the move reflects a broader effort to make global ESG reporting more efficient, comparable, and useful without creating unnecessary extra work for companies.