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Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is an organization that has produced international standardized guidelines for sustainability in business. The initiative was taken by the UN secretary general Kofi Annan with the aim to make sustainability reports more standardized and comparable. They contain both the requirements as to how one should account for social and environmental data on the activities preformed and indicates what should to be included. The guidelines are used by more than 1000 companies worldwide. At the end of 2007 the Swedish government decided that all state-owned companies should report according to GRI guidelines.
GRI's definition: "Sustainability is the process of measuring, displaying, and to be responsible for the organization's performance by working towards the goal of sustainable development. A sustainability report should provide a balanced and reasonable production of durability performance of the reporting organization in both positive and negative angles."
Apparel and Footwear Sector Supplement
Apparel and Footwear Sector Supplement is a supplement to the GRI guidelines that can be applied by clothing and footwear companies. Clothing and footwear products were identified in 2005 as a priority area in need of guidance in order to complement the GRI guidelines and the first version of the GRI Apparel and Footwear Sector Supplement has been in development since September 2005. The group who drafted the amendment included representatives from the apparel and shoe companies, community organizations, investors and others. The working group was chaired by a representative from the industry and a non-industry member. The first version of the supplement was circulated for comment for 90 days between May and September 2006, where interested parties could comment on the proposal. GRI committee then reviewed the revised proposal and the pilot version is now available on their website.