What is the main difference between ISSB and GRI?
ISSB uses financial materiality centred on information that could influence decisions by providers of capital. GRI uses impact materiality centred on the organisation's significant impacts on the economy, environment and people.
The joint GRI and ISSB emissions mapping explains the different materiality definitions. The audiences overlap, but the reporting purpose is not identical.
What are the GRI Standards?
The GRI Standards help organisations report their impacts and material topics to a broad range of stakeholders. They include universal, sector and topic standards that work together.
The GRI Foundation standard defines impacts as effects on the economy, environment and people, including human rights. This differs from treating every tracked ESG metric as automatically material.
Can a company use ISSB and GRI reporting together?
Yes. A company can use ISSB and GRI together when it needs to meet investor-focused requirements and broader stakeholder expectations.
| Question | ISSB | GRI |
|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | Sustainability-related financial information | Reporting significant impacts |
| Main audience | Investors, lenders and other creditors | Broad stakeholder groups, including investors |
| Materiality lens | Effect on company prospects and capital decisions | Significant impacts on economy, environment and people |
| Nigeria status | Adopted baseline for mandatory reporting | May complement the adopted baseline |
| Shared data | Can include Scope 1, 2 and 3 information | Can include Scope 1, 2 and 3 information |
Which sustainability reporting standards has Nigeria adopted?
Nigeria has adopted IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 as the private-sector sustainability-disclosure baseline. GRI may support additional impact reporting but does not replace the adopted ISSB requirements.
The FRC's SRG 1 sets the order of authority and permits other guidance where it does not conflict. A Nigerian report should state clearly which standards it applies.
How does materiality differ between ISSB and GRI?
ISSB asks whether information could reasonably influence decisions by primary users of general-purpose financial reports. GRI asks which impacts on the economy, environment and people are most significant.
A topic can meet both tests, one test or neither. The company should document each assessment rather than copy one materiality list into both reports.
Where does TCFD reporting fit after IFRS S2?
TCFD's recommendations are fully incorporated into the ISSB standards, and the task force has disbanded. A company applying IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 does not need a separate TCFD layer merely to repeat the same recommendations.
The IFRS Foundation says monitoring responsibilities transferred to the ISSB. A legacy TCFD reference may still matter to a particular stakeholder, but it should be mapped into the current ISSB disclosure.
How should a company avoid duplicating ISSB and GRI disclosures?
Build one controlled data and evidence layer, then map each disclosure to the audience and materiality test it serves. Reuse aligned data without pretending the two standards have become interchangeable.
Emvert can produce IFRS S1/S2 and GRI outputs from supported reporting records. It is not endorsed by either standard setter.