Comment period now underway on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) exposure draft of the revised Biodiversity Standard

 

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This announcement from the folks at the  Global Reporting Initiative (GRI):

A global public comment period is now underway to gather input on the exposure draft of the revised Biodiversity Standard. 

The proposed changes to GRI 304 aim to provide a comprehensive and globally applicable standard for biodiversity impacts, thereby enabling any organization – irrespective of location, focus or size – to publicly disclose its most significant impacts on biodiversity and how those impacts are managed. 

The content development is led by a Technical Committee made up of representatives from initiatives that are directly influencing the global debate on biodiversity – including CDP, the Align project, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and the Partnership for Biodiversity Accounting Financials. Read more about the alignment and development of the standard in our press release. 

We invite you to submit your feedback on the draft Standard. If you are a reporting organization, let us know if it is clear and feasible to report on. If you use the reported data, tell us if the exposure draft delivers the information you need to make sound assessments about an organization’s impacts on biodiversity, and the approach to managing them. 

Here is all you need to know about the public comment period: 

• The exposure draft for the revised GRI Biodiversity Standard is open for public comment from 5 December until 28 February 2023. 
• You can provide feedback using this form or via email to gssbsecretariat@globalreporting.org
• You can join a free global webinar to learn more about what is included in the draft Standard – taking place on 15 December. You can sign up for one of two sessions – either 09:00 (CET)or 17:00 (CET). The webinars will then be followed by specific Q&A sessions in the coming weeks.
• Following the GSSB’s Due Process Protocol, all comments received will be considered a matter of public record and made available on the GRI website.

 

Comments are due by 28 February. 

The Introduction to the exposure draft of the revised Biodiversity Standard follows.

GRI Topic Standard Project for Biodiversity – Exposure draft

Comments to be received by 28 February 2023

This exposure draft of the revised GRI Biodiversity Topic Standard is published for public comment by the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), the independent standard-setting body of GRI. This exposure draft is intended to replace GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016.

Any interested party can submit comments on this draft by 28 February 2023 via this online questionnaire. As required by the GSSB Due Process Protocol, only comments submitted in writing and in English will be considered. Comments will be published on the GRI website and considered a matter of public record. Instructions to submit comments are outlined on the first page of the online questionnaire.

An explanatory memorandum preceding the exposure draft summarizes the objectives of the project and the significant proposals contained within this exposure draft.

This draft is published for comment only and may change before official publication.

For more information, please visit the GRI Standards webpage. For questions regarding the exposure draft or the public comment period, please send an email to biodiversity@globalreporting.org.

This document has been prepared by the GRI Standards Division and is made available to observers at meetings of the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB). It does not represent an official position of the GSSB. Board positions are set out in the GRI Sustainability Reporting Standards. The GSSB is the independent standard setting body of GRI. For more information visit www.globalreporting.org.

© GRI 2022

1  Explanatory memorandum 2  This explanatory memorandum sets out the objectives for the review of GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016, 3  the significant proposals contained in the exposure draft, and a summary of the GSSB’s involvement 4  and views on the development of the draft. 5  Objectives for the project 6  The review of GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016 aims to represent internationally agreed best practice and 7  align with recent developments and the relevant authoritative intergovernmental instruments in the 8  field of biodiversity. 9  As part of the GSSB Work Program 2020-2022, the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) 10  identified the review of GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016 as a priority project for commencement in 2021. 11  Since the GRI disclosures on biodiversity were last revised in 2006, the issue of biodiversity has 12  received significant attention in the global sustainable development agenda. 13  Biodiversity features as a key theme in the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable 14  Development. Both governments and private sector organizations are being called upon to realize 15  Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 14 and 15. SDG 14 is devoted to “conserve and sustainably 16  use the oceans, seas and marine resources”. While SDG 15 is devoted to “protect, restore and 17  promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat 18  desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss”. 19  The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) 20  issued the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services in 2019, highlighting that 21  biodiversity is declining in every region and issues an urgent call to halt and reverse the unsustainable 22  use of nature. 23  At the time of issuance of this exposure draft, parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological 24  Diversity are negotiating the post-2020 global biodiversity framework, which aims to stabilize 25  biodiversity loss by 2030 and fully recover natural ecosystems by 2050. The first draft of the post- 26  2020 global biodiversity framework proposes in its Target 15 that “all businesses (public and private, 27  large, medium and small) assess and report on their dependencies and impacts on biodiversity”. The 28  revised GRI Biodiversity Standard could support organizations in meeting reporting obligations 29  resulting from the adoption of this framework. 30  As outlined in the GSSB’s Due Process Protocol, a multi-stakeholder technical committee was 31  established in November 2021 to contribute to the revision of the Biodiversity Standard. 32  For more information on the project, consult the Project Proposal and the Terms of Reference of the 33  Technical Committee. 34  Significant proposals 35  An exposure draft for the revised GRI Biodiversity Standard has been developed in line with the 36  project objectives set out above. Notable changes and inclusions in this exposure draft are 37  summarized below: 38  Facilitate reporting impacts across the supply chain. Reporting information on supply chains is 39  key as the most significant impacts on biodiversity for many organizations is in their supply chains and 40  not in their own operations. A sole focus on an organization’s activities can lead to under-reporting or 41  reporting on impacts that are not the most significant ones. The proposed disclosures require 42  information on the organization’s activities and on its suppliers’ activities with the most significant 43  impacts on biodiversity. Disclosures also include a recommendation to provide information on the 44  downstream value chain, if available. See Disclosures 304-1 to 304-4. 45  Focus on the most significant impacts on biodiversity. Identifying, measuring, and reporting on all 46  impacts on biodiversity can be challenging for many organizations, especially when taking their supply 47  chains into account. The proposed disclosures focus on reporting information on the most significant 48  impacts on biodiversity, not all impacts. Upcoming biodiversity frameworks, such as the Science

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49  Based Targets Network (SBTN) and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), 50  are developing methodologies to assist organizations to identify and prioritize the location of their 51  most significant impacts. See Disclosures 304-1 to 304-5. 52  Emphasis on providing location-specific information on impacts. Impacts on biodiversity are 53  site-specific. An understanding of the local context where an organization interacts with biodiversity is 54  necessary to assess its impacts. Disclosure 304-1 requires specific information on the location of 55  operational sites with the most significant impacts on biodiversity. It replaces Disclosure 304-1 in GRI 56  304: Biodiversity 2016. Disclosures 304-2 to 304-4 require information on impacts for each 57  operational site reported under Disclosure 304-1. 58  New disclosure to report on the direct drivers of biodiversity loss (climate change, invasive alien 59  species, land and sea use change, overexploitation of resources, pollution). Although less accurate 60  than direct measurements of changes in the state of biodiversity (i.e., changes to species and 61  ecosystems), information on direct drivers of biodiversity loss helps understand how an organization 62  affects biodiversity. In turn, it informs which actions an organization needs to take to manage its 63  impacts on biodiversity. It replaces requirement 304-2-a in GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016 (see Disclosure 64  304-2). 65  New disclosure to report on the changes to the state of biodiversity. Requirements have been 66  included to report the impact of an organization and its suppliers on ecosystems (i.e., the type, size, 67  and condition of ecosystems affected or potentially affected), and the impact of an organization on 68  species (i.e., the name and extinction risk of species affected or potentially affected). It replaces 69  requirement 304-2-b and Disclosure 304-4 in GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016 (see Disclosure 304-3). 70  New requirements on the impacts on people resulting from an organization’s impacts on 71  biodiversity. These requirements complement the disclosures in GRI 411: Rights of Indigenous 72  Peoples 2016 and GRI 413: Local Communities 2016. Proposed revisions include: 73 reporting if the organization operates in proximity to areas of high biodiversity value that are important to indigenous peoples and local communities (see Disclosure 304-1); 74 reporting the significant ecosystem services and the beneficiaries of these ecosystem services that are or could be affected by the organization or its suppliers (see Disclosure 304- 4); 78 the management of these impacts, including how the organization addresses the negative impacts of the transition to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity on workers and local communities (see Disclosure 304-6); and 81 reporting how the organization respects the provisions set out in the Nagoya Protocol to achieve the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from utilizing genetic resources and the associated traditional knowledge (see Disclosure 304-7). 84  New biodiversity-specific management disclosures. These additional disclosures are intended to 85  complement Disclosure 3-3 in GRI 3: Material Topics 2021. The new disclosures focus on 86  understanding how the organization: applies the mitigation hierarchy to manage its biodiversity-related impacts (see Disclosure 304-5 - this replaces Disclosure 304-3 in GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016); and aligns its policies and commitments with the upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity’s post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and how it implements these policies and commitments (see Disclosure 304-6). 92  Revised definitions. The definition of 'natural ecosystem conversion’ is proposed for inclusion in the 93  GRI Standards Glossary (see Glossary). The following definitions are removed from the Glossary, as 94  the terms are no longer used, or have been incorporated in the guidance of the exposure draft: 95  •ersity value; area protected; area restored; protected area;

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99. 99  • significant impact on biodiversity.

100. 100  More extensive guidance throughout the draft. This includes example templates for presenting the

101. 101  information for Disclosures 304-1 to 304-3 (see Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3).

102. 102  GSSB involvement and views on the development of

103. 103  this draft

104. 104  The GSSB appointed two of its members as sponsors for the review of GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016.

105. 105  The GSSB sponsors observed the TC process and attended most of their meetings.

106. 106  The GSSB confirmed its support for the revisions to the GRI Biodiversity Standard when it voted to

107. 107  approve the draft for public exposure at its meeting on 17 November 2022.

108. 108  The recording of the meeting can be accessed on the GSSB website.

109. 109  Note on reading this document

110. 110  This document includes generic text used in all GRI Standards. This text is highlighted in grey and

111. 111  cannot be changed – please do not comment on this text.

112. 112  Underlined terms in the draft Standard indicate terms for which definitions have been provided. Most

113. 113  of these terms are already defined in the GRI Standards Glossary 2021 – these definitions are

114. 114  highlighted in grey in the Glossary and cannot be changed. The proposed new definition is not

115. 115  highlighted in grey and is open for review.

99.