If you’ve ever felt lost in ESG reporting acronyms, you’re not alone. Between GRI, SASB, CSRD, and new rules appearing almost every year, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But here’s the good news: each framework has a clear role, and businesses can choose based on who they want to talk to.
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the most widely used, helping companies explain their environmental and social impact to the world at large. SASB, now part of IFRS, is tailored for investors, focusing on what’s financially material to business performance. And then there’s the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) — Europe’s latest move to make ESG reporting mandatory, comprehensive, and comparable.
Think of them as different lenses: GRI shows the broad social impact, SASB zooms in on investor concerns, and CSRD brings strict compliance to the table. While global alignment is still evolving, many companies are finding they need a mix of these to cover all audiences.
The trick is not to treat reporting as paperwork. Done right, it can highlight strengths, expose risks, and open doors to new capital.