The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) intends to better integrate consideration of human rights into its disclosure requirements, following the launch of a project to update its labour topic standards. This includes the creation of new standards and disclosures. The changes are in “recognition” of the need for organisations to “do more” to meet their responsibilities to protect human rights and ensure decent working conditions and treatment of workers, and key elements under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, GRI said. The Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), the independent body responsible for setting the GRI Standards, has appointed a Technical Committee, with representatives from the International Labour Organization, International Organisation of Employers and trade unions, to lead the process. Judy Kuszewski, the GSSB’s Chair, said: “With growing demands and responsibilities for companies to report on how they are safeguarding human rights, our standards need to evolve to meet these transparency expectations. As the ILO warned last week, the number of people forced into modern slavery has risen by a fifth in recent years, including 28 million in forced labour.”
