Sustainability standards, financial reporting must be on equal footing

AS environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns grow in importance and priority on the agendas of businesses, the way in which companies handle these obligations must also evolve - from merely reporting them, to being accountable for them.

And the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) - which pioneered and developed a comprehensive sustainability reporting framework widely used around the world - intends to play a key role in this transformation, under the charge of a new chief executive officer (CEO).

Speaking to The Business Times 2 months after taking office, Eelco van der Enden says he wants to drive GRI's vision of accountability, with reporting as the catalyst: "We need sustainability standards that are mandatory and enforceable, and on an equal footing with financial reporting. How else can we speak of stakeholder capitalism?