ESG frameworks: choosing between GRI, ESRS and ISSB

What ESG covers

Environmental, social and governance topics describe different aspects of a business and its relationships. The relevant topics depend on your activities, impacts and stakeholders. A reporting standard provides a structure for disclosures; it is not a rating of how sustainable a company is.

How the major standards differ

• GRI focuses on an organisation’s impacts on the economy, environment and people.
• ESRS uses double materiality: impacts and sustainability-related financial risks and opportunities.
• ISSB IFRS S1 addresses sustainability-related risks and opportunities relevant to providers of capital.

Do not treat the standards as interchangeable. Map the disclosures you actually need, including the boundary and method for each metric.

Choose for your obligations and audience

First establish which legal and contractual requirements apply. CSRD scope was narrowed by the EU amendments adopted in February 2026; check national implementation and transitional rules. Then identify additional investor or stakeholder information needs. Voluntary reporting can be useful without being represented as mandatory compliance.

Connect circularity to evidence

For materials and waste, connect purchasing, operational and treatment records. Separate input quantities, reuse, recycling, other recovery and disposal. Explain estimates and avoid claiming circularity solely from a collection total or a recycling label.

Build one controlled data process

1. Define the reporting boundary and period.
2. Assign a source and owner to every disclosure.
3. Document definitions, estimates and calculation methods.
4. Reconcile totals and investigate exceptions.
5. Retain evidence and record any subsequent correction.

Use this shared process to support different reporting outputs without assuming their definitions are identical.

Keep reporting and performance distinct

Producing a report does not certify legal compliance or prove an improvement in environmental performance. Use the resulting evidence to decide what to change and measure the outcome. Explore our reporting tools for ways to organise your operational waste data.