G3 Guidelines and GRI Sustainability Reporting

The The G3 Guidelines are the cornerstone of the GRI Sustainability Reporting Framework. They are used as the basis of an organization's annual reporting.

The Guidelines outline core content for reporting and are relevant to all organizations regardless of size, sector, or location. They are the foundation upon which all other GRI reporting guidance is based.

The G3 Guidelines outline a disclosure framework that organizations can be voluntarily, flexibly, and incrementally adopted. The flexibility of the G3 format allows organizations to plot a path for continual improvement of their sustainability reporting practices.

Part 1 – Reporting Principles and Guidance
-Principles to define report content: materiality, stakeholder inclusiveness, sustainability context, and completeness.
-Principles to define report quality: balance, comparability, accuracy, timeliness, reliability, and clarity.
-Guidance on how to set the report boundary.

Part 2 – Standard Disclosures
-Strategy and Profile
-Management Approach
-Performance Indicators

The Guidelines are updated incrementally. This process represents a change from the previous revision cycles, in which the entire set of Guidelines were subject to revision. Going forward, GRI will use a process involving incremental updates that will target specific revision goals - addressing only certain portions of the Guidelines.

On an annual basis, GRI invites stakeholders to identify their priorities in Q4 for further development of the guidelines. The stakeholder feedback is then reviewed and used to formulate a draft plan. The draft plan is posted on the GRI website for public comment. The Board of Directors will approve a final set of priorities for implementation for the next fiscal year based on feedback from the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and the Stakeholder Council (SC). This plan will take into account any ongoing projects from previous years that have not yet been completed. GRI will form working groups to develop draft revisions for review by the TAC. Following the TAC review, the draft revisions will be forwarded to the SC for their concur/non-concur and then to the Board for a final decision. Updates to the guidelines are issued when the work is completed.

GRI is involved with several projects related to updating the guidelines including Community Indicators. As part of the general process of continuously improving the Sustainability Reporting Framework, GRI is working to improve the Community Indicators in the G3 Guidelines.
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Canadian Guidelines on Environmental Claims

The Competition Bureau of Canada and the Canadian Standards Association have developed guidelines based on ISO 14021 detailing the appropriate use of environmental terms. Their guide reflects the most current, internationally accepted, best practice information on the use of environmental claims. The guide is designed to help level playing field; reduce the risk of communicating misleading environmental claims; provide an incentive to improve environmental performance; and meet the growing consumer demand for products and packaging to have a reduced environmental impact.

The second edition of the guideline titled Environmental Claims: A Guide for Industry and Advertisers, was published in June 2008 by Canadian Standards Association, a not-for-profit private sector organization. It supersedes the previous edition published in 2000, entitled The CAN/CSA-ISO 14021 Essentials.

The first objective of this guide is to provide the users of ISO 14021, with a best practice guide to the application of the standard and some practical examples of how the standard could be applied to environmental claims in the Canadian marketplace.

The second objective is to provide assistance to industry and advertisers in complying with certain provisions of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, and the Textile Labelling Act.

This guide provides examples of preferred approaches and discouraged approaches to illustrate commonly used environmental claims; shows how to avoid misleading or deceptive claims relating to an implied or expressed environmental benefit; establishes the guidelines for Mobius loop markings; and suggests methodologies for tests that can be used to clarify claims.

The guide offers best practices for complying with the provisions that prohibit false or misleading representations. Download the entire document (PDF, 589 KB, 72 Pages) .

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ISO Principles for Environmental Labels and Claims

These principles are part of ISO 14020, they serve as a prerequisite for all the other standards in the series.

1. Environmental labels and declarations shall be accurate, verifiable, relevant, and not misleading.

2. Procedures and requirements for environmental labels and declarations shall not be prepared, adopted, or applied with a view to, or with the effect of, creating unnecessary obstacles to international trade.

3. Environmental labels and declarations shall be based on scientific methodology that is sufficiently thorough and comprehensive to support the claim and that produces results that are accurate and reproducible.

4. Information concerning the procedure, methodology, and any criteria used to support environmental labels and declarations shall be available and provided upon request to all interested parties.

5. The development of environmental labels and declarations shall take into consideration all relevant aspects of the life cycle of the product.

6. Environmental labels and declarations shall not inhibit innovation that maintains, or has the potential to improve, environmental performance.

7. Any administrative requirements of information demands related to environmental labels and declarations shall be limited to those necessary to establish conformance with applicable criteria and standards of the labels and declarations.

8. The process of developing environmental labels and declarations should include an open, participatory consultation with interested parties. Reasonable efforts should be made to achieve a consensus throughout the process.

9. Information on the environmental aspects of products and services relevant to an environmental label or declaration shall be available to purchasers and potential purchasers from the party making the environmental label or declaration.
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Green Marketing Legislation

Companies are being held accountable by an increasingly well informed public. In response, governments are enacting laws to protect the environment. Under these laws corporations are being successfully prosecuted.

In Canada, the Competition Bureau and Canadian Standards Association are planning to release new guidelines on the use of environmental terms. In the wake of a plethora of consumer complaints, eco-friendly statements will have to be supported by data. In the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission is reviewing its guidelines for environmental marketing (Green Guides). And the E.U. has adopted a substantial and diverse range of environmental measures aimed at improving the quality of the environment.

In response to these changes and to add value and protect the integrity of their brands, corporations are increasingly implementing Green protocols that meet or exceed the requirements of environmental legislation. However, this can be an involved undertaking, particularly for small business. The complexity of compliance issues related to the U.S. Clean Water Act effectively illustrates this point. Adhering to environmental legislation can prove daunting, and the costs of compliance can be burdensome.

In the U.S., Canada and the E.U., present and forthcoming environmental and marketing legislation provides basic operating guidelines and product standards. These legal guidelines and standards protect and reinforce the integrity of Green brands. But there is a cost associated with compliance. In the U.S., it is estimated that the cost of clean air compliance is between $25 and $50 billion each year. However, compliant corporations can leverage a sustainable marketing position with a broad consumer appeal.

For more detailed information and specific legislation see the COMPLIANCE section in the newly expanded GREEN LINK LIBRARY.