Understanding impact: new collaboration commences between GRI and IFVI
MoU signed on working together to advance the application and measurement of corporate impacts
Amsterdam / Boston, 5 September 2024 – Two global organizations committed to enabling businesses to contribute to a just and sustainable future, through a deep understanding of their impacts, have announced the start of a new partnership.
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has been the champion of impact reporting for over 25 years, with the GRI Standards the world’s most widely used framework for sustainability reporting. Meanwhile, the International Foundation for Valuing Impacts (IFVI), launched in 2022, builds on the frameworks and protocols of GRI and existing standard-setters to develop the next level of sustainability information – the monetary valuation of impacts, also called impact accounting.
Together, GRI and IFVI aim to make sustainability data as accessible, actionable, and comparable as financial data. Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), GRI and IFVI have agreed to:
- Collaborate on building market uptake of each other’s methodologies, approaches and standards;
- Mutual promotion of each organization’s research, thought leadership, events and other activities to build capacity and expertise;
- Joint stakeholder engagement, such as seminars and roundtables on sustainability reporting and data availability;
- Align fundraising activities through joint funding proposals;
- Jointly collaborate on capacity building initiatives, for example in relation to GRI’s Sustainability Innovation Lab (SIL).
Eelco van der Enden, CEO of GRI said:
“Given the strong alignment between the missions of GRI and the IFVI, which both emphasize the crucial value of accountability on impacts, it is clear that the two organizations share common interests and goals. I am delighted, therefore, to formalize and deepen our collaboration through this MoU.
Unlocking open access to sustainability data will empower companies, investors and other stakeholders to strengthen transparency in the supply chain, driving informed decision-making towards a more sustainable future. Through strategic collaboration and mutual support, GRI and IFVI will work together to make this a reality.”
T. Robert Zochowski, President & CEO of IFVI said:
”IFVI was founded to build on the critical work of organizations like GRI to develop a globally applicable and comprehensive impact accounting methodology for the public good. We’re thrilled to be working closer with GRI and continue the work of our peers in increasing collaboration and alignment in the pursuit of our shared goal of a just and sustainable economic system.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the is the independent nonprofit organization that is the architect of the common global language to assess and report on environmental, social and economic impacts. GRI provides standards, tools and training that empower organizations of all sizes to create sustainable, long-term value and unlock positive change in the world.
For over 25 years, GRI has led a global multi-stakeholder process to develop and refine rigorous yet practical approaches to sustainability reporting, which meet the needs of all stakeholders. The GRI Standards, the world’s most widely-used sustainability reporting framework, provide the building blocks for transparent reporting on impacts.
The International Foundation for Valuing Impacts (IFVI) is an independent nonprofit organization bridging the gap between financial accounting and impact measurement. IFVI works to create a just and sustainable economic system built on the full contribution of business to people and the planet. IFVI’s mission is to build and scale the practice of impact accounting to promote decision-making based on risk, return, and impact.
Founded in 2022, IFVI grew out of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Project at Harvard Business School.
MEDIA CONTACTS
GRI: Tom Whittles, GRI Head of Media & Content
IFVI: Beelan Yonas, Communications & Marketing Director