SINGAPORE (Sept 3): Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), an international body that helps companies organise and communicate their ESG data to the wider stakeholder ecosystem, has opened its hub in Asean here in Singapore.
ESG is gaining more attention as sustainability issues move up the priority list of companies and organisations.
GRI says that more than 90% of the world’s largest companies report ESG information, of which 75% use the GRI Standards. The Singapore Exchange is already making companies listed here do sustainability reporting, as part of the wider and stronger focus on this field.
The GRI Asean hub was launched on Tuesday with the backing of 12 companies. These were CapitaLand, City Developments, DBS Bank, EY, Keppel Corporation, KPMG, PwC, Sembcorp Industries, Singapore Exchange, StarHub, Stewardship Asia, and Tata Consultancy Services.
The companies, leading corporations of not just Singapore but also the region, have chipped in with three years’ worth of funding to get the GRI hub up and running. They will also participate in the GRI Asean Advisory Committee, which will inform the hub’s regional action and priorities.
Tim Mohin, chief executive of GRI, hopes that the Asean hub will help companies in this region unlock the benefits of sustainability reporting. “GRI’s experience around the world shows disclosure helps businesses improve performance, build relationships with global buyers and increase their reputation as responsible global citizens,” he adds.
Mohin adds that with Asean’s economy growing strongly and set to continue before developed nation status, it thus an “historic opportunity” to “embed” the values of corporate responsibility early on, and to also nudge allocation of capital to sustainable ways of working.
“The only way to do this is with high-quality ESG disclosure based on a global common language – the GRI Standards,” he adds.
In addition to the Singapore-based hub for Asean, GRI has similar offices in New York for North America New Delhi for South Asia; Johannesburg for Africa; Hong Kong for the Greater China Region; Bogota for Hispanic America; and last but not least, São Paulo for Brazil. GRI’s Secretariat is based in the Netherlands.
GRI’s Asean hub is headed by Michele Lemmens, who is head of business sustainability for Asia Pacific at Tata Consultancy Services. The Hub is co-located at the offices of Global Compact Network Singapore (GCNS), the Singapore chapter of the United Nations Global Compact.
“We welcome the establishment of GRI’s Regional Hub in Singapore where it can generate valuable know-how for ESG reporting and sustainable finance, and in turn contribute to the development of Singapore as a global financial centre,” says SGX RegCo CEO Tan Boon Gin.
Goh Swee Chen, President of GCNS, notes that sustainability reporting forms an integral part of the business strategy of most leading companies worldwide and looks set to grow in importance in the region. “Building on the partnership between GRI and the United Nations Global Compact, GCNS is honored to contribute to furthering sustainability reporting in the region as the hosting organization of GRI’s Asean Regional Hub,” she adds.
“TCS follows the Tata Group philosophy of building sustainable businesses that are rooted in the community and that demonstrate care for the environment,” says Girish Ramachandran, TCS Asia-Pacific President and a member of the GRI Board.
“Our company believes that corporate sustainability extends to the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit; and sustainability reporting provides the transparency and accountability that are the driving forces in business leaders’ decision-making processes,” he adds.
