GRI Standards: What’s changing in 2026

What’s changed and what to watch in 2026

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) remains the most widely used sustainability reporting framework globally. It’s recognised for providing a structured way to explain a company’s impacts on people, planet and society. It provides a strong foundation for reporting as sustainability disclosures become more regulated and receive greater stakeholder scrutiny.

Increasingly, companies need to get to grips with how GRI fits alongside other frameworks and standards that are the basis of regulation in specific countries and regions — for example, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) IFRS S1 and S2 standards that are being widely and rapidly adopted across the world. At the heart of these differences is the approach to materiality. GRI focuses on a company’s impacts, while ISSB is financially focused. The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and ESRS consider what matters from both an impact and a financial perspective, as discussed in What counts as material under CSRD.

This article summarises what is firmly established in GRI reporting and what is changing, helping reporting teams prioritise what matters in 2026.

What is now established in GRI reporting

Universal Standards are fully embedded

The revised GRI Universal Standards (GRI 1, 2 and 3) provide the foundation for reporting. They have been in force since 2023. GRI encouraged early adoption and expects that in 2026, companies using GRI will have fully embedded the updated guidance in their approach to:

• impact materiality
• stakeholder engagement
• human rights and due diligence across the value chain

The focus is on how a company explains its approach to  identifying, preventing, mitigating and addressing adverse impacts, not just describing outcomes. This increases  process transparency and accountability, particularly for human rights and supply chain risks.

A more structured approach to materiality

GRI’s materiality approach remains centred on a company’s significant impacts, but the updated standards now require more rigorous  disclosures on how those impacts are assessed. Companies are expected to show how impacts were identified, including how stakeholders were involved in the assessment process and how their views informed decisions. There should also be a clear description of the approach to assessing severity and likelihood of impacts. This structured approach aligns well with ESRS expectations, even though the frameworks are not identical.

GRI Sector Standards in 2026

GRI’s Sector Standards are an important step forward in reporting quality and comparability in some of the most high-impact sectors.

Current Sector Standards

Sector Standards have already been made available for:

• Oil and Gas (GRI 11)
• Coal (GRI 12)
• Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fishing (GRI 13)
• Mining (GRI 14)

The mining sector standard comes into effect in 2026, valid for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026. Mining companies need to reflect this standard in their current reporting plans, as it introduces clearer expectations for site-level impacts, community engagement and environmental management.

Sector Standards in development

GRI is working on further Sector Standards for Textiles and Apparel and for Financial Services. In anticipation, sustainability professionals  in these sectors should focus on strengthening assessment of their material impacts and more detailed value chain mapping..

GRI alignment with ISSB and ESRS

Interoperability with ISSB

GRI and the IFRS Foundation continue to collaborate to improve interoperability between GRI and ISSB standards. While the frameworks remain separate, guidance helps organisations align governance, climate and policy disclosures across both the impact and financial materiality lenses. This supports more efficient reporting cycles and reduces duplication.

Alignment with ESRS

GRI and the European Financial Regulatory Advisory Group (EFRAG) worked together closely during development of the original ESRS, resulting in a high level of alignment. But revision to the ESRS in 2025 on the back of the EU Omnibus simplification package has caused the two frameworks to start to diverge. This will be exacerbated in 2026 as GRI’s Topic Standards Project for Labor comes to fruition. This will introduce more detailed disclosure guidance in relation to workforce practices and human rights. Companies already reporting under GRI and that continue to keep pace with the standards as they evolve are generally well prepared for CSRD. ESRS-specific requirements still apply, notably the emphasis on double materiality.

Key themes shaping GRI reporting in 2026

The GRI standards will continue to evolve as the Global Sustainability Standard Board continues to revise and update key aspects of the framework.

Human rights and workforce disclosures

Human rights remain central to GRI reporting, with updated standards addressing rising expectations for evidence of due diligence, effective grievance mechanisms and remediation processes. Workforce disclosures are becoming more detailed, especially around working conditions, supply chain labour risks and workers’ representation.

Supply chain transparency

GRI’s value chain focus means organisations must increasingly explain impacts beyond direct operations. This includes supplier risk mapping, responsible sourcing practices, and actions taken to improve outcomes across the supply chain.

Climate and nature-related impacts

Climate disclosures continue to evolve, influenced by IFRS S2, while nature-related impacts, such as biodiversity, land use, and water, are receiving greater attention. The growing adoption of the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework is raising expectations for clearer explanations of nature-related impacts and dependencies.

Higher expectations for data quality

Even where assurance is not mandatory, stakeholders expect sustainability data to be traceable, consistent and supported by internal controls. Reporting teams should focus on maintaining and strengthening clear data ownership, documentation of methodologies, and cross-functional collaboration and coordination.

Preparing for GRI reporting in 2026

Organisations can strengthen their GRI reporting by focusing on a few practical priorities:

• Materiality. Effective reporting stems from a clear focus on the issues that matter to a business and its stakeholders. Revisit your materiality assessments using a structured, evidence-led approach to ensure impacts are well understood and assessed. Taking a double materiality approach paves the way for reporting across multiple frameworks where companies want to combine GRI disclosures with local mandatory requirements.
• Sector Standards. Refresh your knowledge of the Sector Standards that apply to your industry, confirming whether revised standards are in the pipeline. Map current disclosures against draft proposals, enabling you to create a pathway towards adoption of the latest guidance.
• Systems and processes. Having data systems and processes that support multiple frameworks is the secret to stress-free reporting. Review your current approach to ensure you can track and record all relevant metrics in sufficient granularity, using the outcome of your standards mapping exercise to check that your systems and processes are future-ready.
• Assurance. Make it your mission to be assurance-ready, even where assurance is voluntary. Focus on documenting the data source, methodologies and assumptions that feed into your reporting.
• Cross comparison. Reporting to multiple frameworks is becoming the norm for most companies. Compare requirements, using interoperability guidance where it exists, to identify the overlaps between frameworks. This can help  reduce duplication across your report and allow you to focus attention where it matters — on transparency and accuracy.

How Context Sustainability supports GRI reporting

Context Sustainability supports organisations navigating GRI reporting in a more regulated environment and with strong moves to greater independent assurance. We help clients refresh materiality assessments, apply relevant Sector Standards, improve data quality, and align GRI reporting with ESRS and ISSB where required.

With a  focus on clarity, credibility, and practicality, we help organisations build reporting systems that work across frameworks and support long-term sustainability goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the concept of interoperability mean between the GRI and ESRS frameworks?

Interoperability ensures that organisations utilising GRI Standards can map their existing impact data directly to the corresponding European Sustainability Reporting Standards topical disclosures. This structural alignment eliminates duplication across data collection pipelines and optimises reporting efficiency under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

How do the updated GRI Universal Standards impact a company’s value chain disclosures?

The Universal Standards require organisations to provide explicit disclosures regarding their human rights due diligence, impact identification processes, and remediation channels across both upstream and downstream value chains, moving beyond simple direct operational reporting.

Why are sector-specific standards becoming critical under the GRI framework?

GRI Sector Standards establish a standardised baseline for industry-specific impacts, ensuring high comparability between peer organisations. For example, the Mining Sector standard mandates specialised, site-level disclosures concerning localised community impacts and environmental management.

How can companies ensure voluntary GRI reports are prepared for future mandatory assurance?

To achieve assurance readiness, companies must transition away from manual data entry and build structured internal controls. This involves fully documenting calculation methodologies, formalising executive approval workflows, and treating non-financial data with the same operational rigour as financial accounting.