What GRI's New York launch means for American and Canadian companies

North American corporate social responsibility (CSR) continued its recent surge this week as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) officially launched its push to encourage American companies to report on environmental, social and governance issues using the GRI framework.

Traditionally squeamish about disclosing non-financial information, North American companies now have a better chance of catching up to the rest of the world (many estimates put us approximately 10 years behind). 
The GRI Focal Point USA office has been open since October, but this week's official launch at the New York Stock Exchange was an opportunity to clearly demonstrate the benefits of sustainability reporting, and featured big-name speakers from NYSE, Bloomberg, Avon, The Conference Board, CERES, Mariott and UPS.

So what does GRI's arrival in the US mean for North American corporations?

1. Michelle Greene, a NYSE Euronext vice president and head of corporate responsibility, said it best in her opening address.

"We are at a tipping point.  Companies that do not issue CSR reports will have to explain why they do not."

2.  American and Canadian companies will have access to dedicated resources adapted to help them overcome the regulatory, structural and marketplace barriers that have prevented a bigger uptake in reporting.
The prevalence of litigation, particularly in the USA, has prevented many well-intentioned and often quite responsible companies from publicly disclosing information.

The tendency to keep progress secret for fear of outside criticism is largely seen as outdated, however -  Levis has been gradually incorporating 2% organic cotton into it's jeans for almost a decade, but did not disclose it until recently for fear of being asked about the other 98%. Today's companies increasingly understand the value of engaging stakeholders in a conversation on the progress and challenges of corporate responsibility, and the GRI provides a framework to do just that.

In the age of social networking and Wikileaks, the days of quietly keeping progress and challenges under the radar are gone. Companies will need to adapt in order to succeed.

3. Companies will have greater opportunities to be part of the conversation on how the GRI G3 guidelines can increase transparency and create value specifically in North America, through events and face-to-face meetings.

4.  They will have greater opportunities to test the current G3 guidelines on the ground and provide feedback, thus helping generate the next generation of GRI reporting (G4) guidelines.

5. Investors will increasingly look to CSR reports to determine long-term growth prospects and core value. Environmentally or socially-focused funds are gaining in popularity, while Bloomberg LLP  recently began listing sustainability indicators beside conventional analytics on one of the main screens at the Bloomberg Terminal.

Not to over state the impact one New York office can have - the barriers to corporate responsibility and reporting remain significant- but the GRI's arrival on the ground in North America should serve as a useful tool to address and overcome them.

For now USA office is in good company, being hosted by The Conference Board while the Big Four accounting firms (Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC) are underwriting operations over the initial two years.

For more information about Focal Point USA and contact information click here