Ceylon Chamber gives leadership to promote GRI

Wednesday, 10 November 2010 23:51 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a network-based organisation that has pioneered the development of the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework and is committed to its continuous improvement and application worldwide.

In order to ensure the highest degree of technical quality, credibility and relevance, the reporting framework is developed through a consensus-seeking process with participants drawn globally from business, civil society, labour and professional institutions.

Sustainability reporting is the practice of measuring, disclosing and being accountable to internal and external stakeholders for organisational performance towards the goal of sustainable development.

An Awareness Training Programme on Sustainability Reporting is being held at the Taj Samudra on 10 and 11 November 2010.

This programme is conducted by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Confederation of Indian Industry, supported by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and Carbon Consulting Company.

Reports can be used for the following purposes, among others:

Benchmarking and assessing sustainability.
Demonstrating how the organisation influences and is influenced by expectations about sustainable development.
Comparing performance within an organisation and between different organisations.
The benefits that would arise from reporting are:
A clear picture of the main economic, environmental and social impacts.
Identification of risks and opportunities.
Identification of general management improvement.
Identification of opportunities for cost reduction.
Prioritisation of actions.
Positive effects on employee recruitment and retention.
Stimulation of innovation and creation of new business opportunities.
Reputation enhancement and increased customer/client loyalty.
Source of competitive advantage.
Transparent organisations tend to be more stable and economically viable.
Improved dialogue between the organisation and society helping to find common solutions.
Helps to make an organisation an attractive employer.