ABU DHABI — The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), an international independent organization that has pioneered corporate sustainability reporting since 1997, will hold the regional launch of the new GRI Standards in Abu Dhabi on Sept. 19, 2017. The launch event is being hosted by Abu Dhabi’s renewable energy company, Masdar, is sponsored by Union National Bank and has been organized in partnership with Sustainability Excellence.

The new GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI Standards) are the latest evolution of GRI’s reporting disclosures, which have been developed through more than 15 years of a robust multi-stakeholder process. As the world’s first global standard for sustainability reporting, they provide companies, NGOs and government entities with a common language for disclosing non-financial information.

The launch of the GRI Standards is expected to drive a wave of new sustainability reporting in the region, enabling companies to be more transparent about their impacts on the economy, the environment and society. The GRI Standards are also designed to help organizations make more sustainable decisions and contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

During the launch event, attendees will hear directly from representatives from GRI, who will speak about how any organization can immediately begin using the GRI Standards to disclose critical sustainability information to any of their stakeholders, as well as the timeline for the translation of the GRI Standards into Arabic.

Commenting on the new standards, Chief Executive of the GRI Tim Mohin said: “The new GRI Standards establish a common language that any organization can use to communicate their sustainability impacts. By providing a consistent yet flexible reporting framework for companies, the GRI Standards create a virtuous cycle that drives results – ultimately serving the goal of sustainable development.”

Masdar is hosting and will officially open the event. Its CEO Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi said: “We are delighted to be hosting the GRI for what is a vital global milestone in the evolution of sustainability reporting. Masdar has been using the GRI framework since 2013 in order to provide a transparent, internationally recognized benchmark from which to continually measure our progress. This important event will encourage more companies across the region to do the same.”

Union National Bank is sponsoring the event and is also one of the GRI Standard Pioneers. Their CEO Mohammad Nasr Abdeen said: “Sustainability reporting using the new GRI Standards is a great way for any company to better understand and improve its combined social, environmental and economic impact. We look forward to sharing our experience of using the new standards.”

The event has been organized in partnership with Sustainability Excellence, whose CEO Darin Rovere said: “The first sustainability report in the region to use the GRI reporting guidelines was released in 2007. Now, 10 years later, more than 100 companies have used the GRI to regularly report their sustainability performance. The new GRI Standards will contribute to accelerating growth in reporting over the coming years.” — SG