In preparation for its early-2002 launch as an independent standards-setting body, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has kicked off a drive to enlist an international network of Individual Stakeholders.

"By reaching out and engaging a diverse population supportive of improved corporate and organizational accountability and public reporting," said Dr. Robert Kinloch Massie, GRI Steering Committee Chair, "we will expand the broad coalition that is working to ensure the long-term viability of an independent GRI."
The GRI invites all persons interested in elevating public reporting on social, environmental and economic performance-also known as sustainability reporting-to become "Individual Stakeholders" in the GRI.

"We hope to attract the broadest possible array of environmental and human rights advocates, investors, business people, accountants, academics, union members, and a multitude of others," said Massie. "The success of the GRI has been rooted in a commitment to inclusiveness, diversity, and consensus."

Registration is free and can be completed on-line. Once registered, Individual Stakeholders will gain access to the latest information and resources on the GRI, specify how they would like to become involved, and become pioneers in a movement that is changing the face of public disclosure. The GRI will benefit by building an ever-expanding and committed stakeholder network, and by gaining a better understanding of the composition and interests of that network.

To register as an Individual Stakeholder please visit the information page and registration form. Information gathered will not be sold or distributed to external parties, and will be for the sole use of GRI. (Privacy statement)

Convened in 1997 by the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES), in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme, the GRI is working to elevate sustainability reporting to the level of rigor, comparability, and completeness evident in financial reporting. The GRI has incorporated the active participation of hundreds of business, accountancy, investment, environmental, human rights, and labor organizations from around the world in designing a common framework for sustainability reporting, called the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. More than 100 major companies have tested or used the Guidelines in shaping their reports.