The GRI and the TNFD have introduced a new resource aimed at harmonizing biodiversity reporting standards globally.
This joint initiative has resulted in the creation of an interoperability mapping tool that outlines the alignment between the TNFD Disclosure Recommendations and the GRI Standards.
Over the last two years, both organizations have collaborated extensively to refine their respective frameworks, with notable contributions to the TNFD’s recommendations and the recent introduction of the GRI Biodiversity Standard.
This cooperation has led to the development of a guidance document and a correspondence table that assists GRI’s 14,000 reporters in aligning their reporting practices with the TNFD’s standards, thereby facilitating TNFD adopters to utilize GRI standards effectively.
The newly published resource highlights significant consistencies between the TNFD and GRI frameworks, particularly in the use of unified nature-related concepts and definitions, including those for direct drivers of biodiversity loss as identified by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). It also underscores the inclusion of GRI’s materiality approach within the TNFD recommendations, which emphasizes both impact and financial materiality.
The TNFD LEAP approach, aimed at helping organizations assess nature-related issues, is also incorporated within the GRI 101: Biodiversity 2024, ensuring a robust methodology for evaluating and reporting on biodiversity impacts. This approach is particularly important for organizations located in or near ecologically sensitive areas, as it provides detailed guidance on identifying and measuring changes in nature.
GRI Chief Standards Officer Bastian Buck highlighted the benefits of the collaboration: “The ongoing collaboration of GRI with the TNFD has resulted in this detailed mapping tool, supporting thousands of organizations worldwide that already report their biodiversity impacts using the GRI Standards.
This resource enables them to seamlessly integrate the TNFD recommendations, allowing for simplified, single-source reporting. GRI and the TNFD will continue to cooperate to prevent the need for double reporting and ensure organizations can transparently and accountably disclose their impacts.”
Esther An, Chief Sustainability Officer at City Developments Limited (CDL) and member of both the TNFD Taskforce and GRI Supervisory Board, also emphasized the practical implications: “Nature risks are business risks that should be measured and disclosed in a more robust manner.
“Having adopted the GRI 304: Biodiversity (2016) since 2017 and as the first Singapore company to publish disclosures aligned with the TNFD Recommendations in 2024, CDL understands the importance of measuring and managing our nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities for long-term resilience. As we look towards adopting the new GRI 101: Biodiversity 2024 in our upcoming sustainability reports, we welcome the interoperability between TNFD and GRI to harmonize the global sustainability reporting landscape.”
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