Insights 2024.12.16

Strengthening collaboration between GRI and SSBJ: Comprehensive response to sustainability disclosure

Strengthening collaboration between GRI and SSBJ: Comprehensive response to sustainability disclosure

Director of Zeroboard Research Institute, Director of Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB)

Tomoo Machiba

In mid- November, at the invitation of the Sustainability Standards Board of Japan (SSBJ), Bastian Bach, Director of Standards Development at the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and Carol Adams, Chair of the GRI Advocacy Body (GSSB), of which I am a board member, visited Japan and held dialogues with stakeholders from various sectors within Japan.

I also accompanied them to some of the meetings and was in charge of some of the presentations.

More than 200 practitioners gathered at a seminar held on the 13th, sponsored by SSBJ and the Japan Institute of Certified Public Accountants (JICPA), indicating a high level of interest in the movement toward sustainable disclosure standards.

With the enforcement of the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), attention is being focused on the European Sustainability Reporting Standard (ESRS) among Japanese companies, but Back said, "ESRS was developed based on the GRI standard, so it will not be difficult for many Japanese companies that are already disclosing in line with GRI. GRI can be referenced for areas where ESRS does not provide sufficient guidance." Adams emphasized the merits and advantages of GRI, saying, "GRI has been a front-runner, pioneering the possibility of sustainability disclosure within a voluntary framework. If you identify materiality and collect data based on GRI, you will not be confused by the emergence of various standards, and will be able to respond ahead of the times."

At a meeting with JICPA the following day, the two were bombarded with questions by leaders of major accounting firms.

What became clear was a common understanding that, in an environment where third-party assurance of sustainability disclosure will be required in the future, in order to ensure reliable information that will help investors make decisions, it is important to first grasp the materiality of the impact that a company has on the economy, environment, and society, as presented in the GRI Standards, and then use that to identify financially significant risks and opportunities.

When we visited the Ministry of the Environment two days later, we realized that the GRI Standards could be of great use in promoting environmental due diligence.

Taking advantage of this visit to Japan, SSBJ and GSSB signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and agreed to collaborate on exploring the relationship between the above impacts and companies' understanding of financial risks and opportunities. *1)

GRI intends to Create guidance to align the GRI Standards with the legal disclosure standards of each country, including the SSBJ, whose final standards will be issued by March next year. *2)

This aims to promote compliance with ESRS based on the combined use of GRI and SSBJ (or IFRS S standards).

Yasuyoshi Kawanishi, Chairman of the SSBJ (center), GSSB Chairman Adams (left), and Head of GRI Standards Development Buck (right) signed the memorandum with the SSBJ members.

At the end of the three-day trip, Adams and Buck visited Zeroboard headquarters and met with Japanese stakeholders who have contributed to the development of GRI in various ways.

In order to promote the dissemination of GRI standards and participation in standards development, the committee discussed the possibility of providing more information in Japanese and establishing a Japan office or ambassador.

Zeroboard's development team also had the opportunity to directly discuss with GRI executives the possibility of efficiently collecting and utilizing ESG data, and renewed their commitment to developing digital tools that can be used internationally.

Meeting between GRI executives and Japanese stakeholders (at our company)

Mr. Back, Director of GRI Standards Development (second from the left), and members of the Zeroboard visited our company.

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GHG emission amount calculation/visualization,
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＜Reference source＞
*1) The Sustainability Standards Board of Japan (SSBJ) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to promote better corporate reporting.
https://www.ssb-j.jp/jp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/news_release_ssbj_20241114.pdf
*2) Sustainability Reporting, GRI and GRI Standards
https://www.ssb-j.jp/jp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/20241114_07.pdf

Article author

Tomoo Machiba(Director of Zeroboard Research Institute)
After working as a journalist for the Asahi Shimbun, she became involved in supporting corporate and government sustainability strategies internationally. She worked on guideline revisions at the GRI International Secretariat and led eco-innovation policy research at the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry. At the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), she was in charge of knowledge management of renewable energy technology data from around the world, and at the UAE Federal Government, she was involved in green economy and climate change response strategy and policy development. As Deputy Director of the United Nations Centre for Climate and Technology Network (CTCN), she was responsible for supporting technology transfer to developing countries, and returned to Japan in 2021. She served as a partner in charge of decarbonization and ESG at the foreign consulting firm ERM, and became Director of the Zeroboard Research Institute in August 2023. From January 2024, she served as a board member of the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), the deliberative body of GRI, from March 2025, as a member of the GHG Protocol TWG, and from April 2026, as Vice Chair of the GSSB. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism from Sophia University and a Master's degree from the Institute for International Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK.