sustainable xbrl

Global reportinG initiative’s elina sviklina reviews the work done to create a taxonomy for sustainability reportinG and shares the plans for roll out and adoption.

Value of sustainability RepoRtingthe aim of the Global reporting initiative (Gri) is to make sustainability reporting standard practice. the idea behind this is that sustainability data matters as much to stakeholders and shareholders as financial data does. this is to do with the potential risks and opportunities, and the more open and transparent organizations are, the better. companies want to communicate better and

with elina svilkina, Global reporting initiative

to disclose their performance with their external network, and this is where Gri comes in.

DeVeloping the taxonomythis is the first sustainability taxonomy of this scale. so far, we have not seen many sustainability reports provided in xbrl format. in spain there is another sustainability reporting framework available and stakeholders have said that there is

this article was first published in the ibr, vol.2 issue 01-feb 2012. please visit www.ibr-mag.com to view all articles.

14| vol 02 • issue 01 • february 2012

also an xbrl taxonomy for spanish reporters. the Gri taxonomy will be a major step forward and we hope many more sustainability reporters will use xbrl.

DeciDing on xbRlthere has been considerable movement towards xbrl but it has been a fluctuating process. Gri developed a taxonomy back in 2006 but it was not widely used. at that time xbrl was not as developed as it is now. Gri launched its G3.1 Guidelines in 2011 so the previous taxonomy did not cover these G3.1 Guidelines. so it was decided to move back to xbrl and to create a new taxonomy. we began this process in June, in cooperation with deloitte netherlands, mainly because companies were asking us if there was the taxonomy for Gri reports to be available in xbrl format. we even had companies saying that they would like to report according to Gri Guidelines but they wanted to report using xbrl because that is what investors were demanding.

we therefore decided to begin work on a new taxonomy to fulfill the needs of organizations who have already invested heavily in providing sustainability reports. they now wish to have it in a format where the data is easily accessible for both investors and analysts and we believe they will be willing to invest further in order to have it in xbrl format.

long teRm benefitsGri is working towards promoting sustainability and transparency. the work we do is aimed at reporters and companies providing sustainability reports. if this is the way they would like to report and if digital reporting would make their lives easier, we want to help them as much as we can. we also have a certified software and tools program that works to verify the accuracy of Gri content in software and tools. a year ago, we surveyed our reporters and they responded that they are willing to use any available technology to help them in their reporting. compare 2006 to today and you see that interest has grown

considerably; we are now able to provide better reporting options and so be of more help to reporters. we have launched a voluntary filing program, which enables organizations to showcase their use of xbrl for sustainability reporting. the early adopters of the taxonomy will be listed on our website.

aDjustment mechanismthe other benefit for our early adopters is that they had the opportunity to contribute to refining the taxonomy. we worked closely with manyorganizations that wanted to be the first to use the new taxonomy. these organizations are listed on our website and we maintain contact with them;

we value feedback during the development of the taxonomy – which of course is a process that will be continuing in the future.

going foRwaRDwe will continue developing the taxonomy and we are currently working on the next generation of sustainability reporting Guidelines - G4. we are planning to develop the taxonomy in line with G4. future planning depends upon the extent of the uptake of the taxonomy and also what demands we receive from the industry once the taxonomy is launched. the project is an important one for Gri – the building process is complete and we are now working on its adoption. the Gri taxonomy was launched on 8 march - any organization can now download and use the taxonomy. we’re looking forward to seeing the first xbrl reports through the voluntary filing program.

“the other benefit for our early adopters

is the opportunity to contribute to refining

the taxonomy.”

elina svilkina, Global reportinG initiative

this article was first published in the ibr, vol.2 issue 01-feb 2012. please visit www.ibr-mag.com to view all articles.

vol 02 • issue 01 • february 2012|15

dave van den ende of deloitte netherlands discusses the development of the Gri taxonomy.

what we are seeing is many companies reporting on sustainability through their annual sustainability report – there are two factors to consider. on the one hand, it is very rough way of reporting

on sustainability progress and it is very company specific. it is almost impossible to reuse the data that is being published in sustainability reports and it is very difficult to benchmark and compare different sectors or companies. in order to use the data,

it must all be rekeyed and, at the same time, you lose control of how your data is interpreted by the community. even though there is a Gri reporting index at the back of the report, it is sometimes difficult to get to the real data being referred to in the Gri guidelines.

on the other hand, with the Gri taxonomy, we have a very detailed dictionary of all the reporting concepts to be reported to Gri. there are very clear definitions and reference points as to how to organize your reporting process according to those indicators. this makes it much easier to look internally to organize the reporting process around the indicators kpis, which are uniquely defined in the Gri taxonomy. these conceptual definitions are a standard for both internal and external reporting processes. this provides interactive data to multiple stakeholders in a format that is far easier to use.

dave van den ende, deloitte netherlands

this article was first published in the ibr, vol.2 issue 01-feb 2012. please visit www.ibr-mag.com to view all articles.

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