Digital Sustainability reporting

GRI reporting software and tagging services

The Global Reporting Initiative have been leading the development of transparent sustainability reporting for almost 30 years. They have taken the next step in 2025 by adopting digital standards to enhance transparency and trust in sustainability reporting The new digital format for GRI reports is called iXBRL and has been used for many years in financial reporting, such as reports to the SEC in the US. By enabling the iXBRL format, GRI reports will become machine-readable helping investors find the sustainability information they need.

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What is GRI reporting?

The Global Reporting Initiative is the world’s most widely used framework for sustainability reporting. It helps organizations disclose their environmental, social, and governance impacts in a consistent and comparable way. GRI Standards provide detailed guidance on what companies should report, such as carbon emissions, resource use and labour practices.

Why use iXBRL for a GRI report?

iXBRL (Inline XBRL) reports are structured, machine-readable documents. Compared to PDFs it makes it easier for sustainability data to be searched and analysed automatically by regulators, investors, and other stakeholders. Using iXBRL makes reports more transparent and accessible; reducing the risk of misinterpretation. iXBRL is the de facto standard for digital financial reporting so is a familiar format for investors.

What do you need to make an iXBRL report?

iXBRL and XHTML are document formats, the same as Microsoft Word’s DOCX format or Adobe’s PDF. XHTML is the format used to display websites and, since iXBRL is built on top of XHTML, annual reports can be viewed in any web browser. iXBRL also includes computer-readable information in the form of iXBRL tags that identify and define the meaning of the tagged numbers or text. Typically, the production of a company’s annual report will start in Microsoft Word or Adobe InDesign. Once the document is ready it will be converted from a PDF or Microsoft Word document into the required format (XHTML or iXBRL) using specialist software. Then, if required, iXBRL tags will be added in a process known as “tagging”. When tags are added to a document, they can be viewed in an iXBRL viewer or read by computers to enhance analysis and automated uses of the data in the reports.

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