The first two documents are linkage documents.  The first document reveals how GRI's G4 Guidelines and CDP's 2016 climate change questions are aligned and the second document shows how GRI’s G4 Guidelines and CDP’s water questions (2016) are aligned.  These linkage documents are intended to avoid duplication of disclosure efforts.  This harmonisation will help companies to streamline their disclosure efforts and improve the consistency and comparability of environmental data.  The GRI and CDP Climate Change and GRI and CDP Water documents and press release can be downloaded from the GRI website.

The third document, a digital publication, indicates the future of sustainability reporting and disclosure.  The report is the culmination of the first year of GRI’s continuing Sustainability and Reporting 2025 project which is designed to promote an international discussion about the purpose of sustainability reporting and disclosures looking ahead to 2025.  The GRI conclude that changes to sustainability disclosures in the next decade will include:

• New formats and multiple information sources.  The report indicates that reporting will be digital and tagged and more frequent with companies engaging “in almost real-time sustainability exchange through a variety of dynamic communication channels and sharing platforms.  The report envisages “networks across companies and suppliers” to share data and manage risk and improved software and search engines that will enable stakeholders to “consume the information in a much more powerful way”.
• New content.  The report indicates that “companies will be required to disclose information on their overall impacts on society and the world’s natural resources”.  The report also highlights that sustainability disclosures and the related data will include business contributions to climate change, to eliminate contamination, to protect ecosystems and to the management of natural resources.  It will also include contributions to the quality of life of all individuals and communities involved in the business’ extended value chain/operations.  Additionally the report envisages that disclosures will include impacts within the supply chain.
• A new role for stakeholders empowered by information.  The report indicates that with the different information sources, stakeholders will have “almost real-time interactions”.  As a result the report highlights that “company approaches to stakeholder relations will change”. 

The press release and full report are available on the GRI website.