Sector speciic Aspects and related DMA and Indicators should be considered for both options when selecting material
Aspects to be reported. For each identiied material Aspect from the GRI Sector Disclosures, the organization should
disclose the Generic DMA and other available Standard Disclosures related to the sector speciic material Aspect
REASONS FOR OMISSION
For Standard Disclosures with , reasons for omission may apply in exceptional cases.
In exceptional cases, if it is not possible to disclose certain required information, the report should clearly: a Identify the information that has been omitted.
b Explain the reasons why the information has been omitted. In addition, the applicable explanation of omission from the list below should be provided:
– A Standard Disclosure, part of a Standard Disclosure, or an Indicator is not applicable; the reason why it is considered to be not applicable should be disclosed
– The information is subject to speciic conidentiality constraints; those constraints are to be disclosed by the organization – The existence of speciic legal prohibitions; a reference to the speciic legal prohibitions should be made
– The information is currently unavailable. In the case of the unavailability of data, the organization should disclose the steps being taken to obtain the data and the expected timeframe for doing so
The organization should recognize, however, that a large number of omitted Standard Disclosures may invalidate its ability to claim that its sustainability report has been prepared ‘in accordance’ with either the Core or Comprehensive options of the
Guidelines.
3.2 REPORTING REQUIRED STANDARD DISCLOSURES BY USING REFERENCES
Information related to Standard Disclosures required by the ‘in accordance’ options may already be included in other reports prepared by the organization, such as its annual report to shareholders or other regulatory or voluntary reports. In these
circumstances, the organization may elect to not repeat those disclosures in its sustainability report and instead add a reference to where the relevant information can be found.
This presentation is acceptable as long as the reference is speciic for example, a general reference to the annual report to shareholders would not be acceptable, unless it includes the name of the section, table, etc. and the information is publicly
available and readily accessible. This is likely the case when the sustainability report is presented in electronic or web based format and links are provided to other electronic or web based reports.
MEDIUM OF REPORTING
Electronic or web-based reporting and paper reports are appropriate media for reporting. Organizations may choose to use a combination of web and paper-based reports or use only one medium. For example, an organization may choose to provide
a detailed report on their website and provide an executive summary including their strategy and analysis and performance information in paper form. The choice will likely depend on the organization’s decisions on its reporting period, its plans for
updating content, the likely users of the report, and other practical factors, such as its distribution strategy. At least one medium web or paper should provide users with access to the complete set of information for the reporting period.
3.3 NOTE ON REPORTS THAT ARE PREPARED ‘IN ACCORDANCE’ WITH THE GUIDELINES
Any report containing a statement that it is prepared ‘in accordance’ with the Guidelines should be prepared in accordance with the criteria presented in this section, and should present the GRI Content Index G4-32, pp. 31-35.
In the GRI Content Index a reference to the External Assurance Report should be included, if the report has been externally assured. GRI recommends the use of external assurance but it is not a requirement to be ‘in accordance’ with the Guidelines.
3.4 NOTE ON REPORTS THAT ARE NOT PREPARED ‘IN ACCORDANCE’ WITH THE GUIDELINES
