First Convening of Stakeholder Council Members
The first gathering of GRI Stakeholder Council (SC) members was held in early December in Amsterdam. SC members had a chance to meet each other and learn more about the GRI and the role of the SC in GRI governance. They also nominated an interim SC Chair (Linda Funnell-Milner of Westpac Banking Corporation) to serve until the first full SC meets in mid-2003. A smaller subset of the initial 36-person SC met to review nominations for the remaining 24 seats for the full SC. The Interim Nomination Committee reviewed more than 90 nominations to prepare a shortlist of candidates. The additional 24 SC members will be announced in the new year.
Launch of GRI Forum Japan
Almost 300 people attended a symposium in November at United Nations University in Tokyo to launch a new organisation called GRI Forum Japan. The Forum is independent of GRI and has four primary roles: 1) translation and circulation of GRI documents; 2) continuous circulation of GRI-related information; 3) diffusion of GRI, and education and advice to Guidelines users; 4) support for making comments and suggestions to GRI from Japan. Dr Keizo Yamaji, Chairman of Japan Tetrapak (former CEO of Canon) is the inaugural chairperson of GRI Forum Japan. The symposium included business, NGO, and government speakers, and also launched the Japanese translation of the 2002 Guidelines. The translation will be available on the GRI website in the new year. For more information about GRI in Japan please contact Tomoo Machiba (machiba@globalreporting.org).
Reminder – 3rd International GRI Symposium in July 2003
The 3rd International GRI Symposium is designed to engage stakeholders from all constituencies and geographies in lively discussion about transparency, organisational accountability, sustainability reporting, indicators, verification, and associated issues. The last international GRI symposium attracted nearly 500 participants from 40 countries and led to numerous improvements to the Guidelines and the GRI process. Please block off 8-9 July to be in Amsterdam for one of the essential conferences of 2003.
New Website in January
We are currently re-designing the GRI website and will launch a fresh new look in January 2003. In addition to a more streamlined structure and easier navigation, the new site will also include new content. The address will remain the same (www.globalreporting.org).
More Organisations Use the Guidelines
We have been informed that the organisations listed below have prepared reports using the Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. By listing a company name GRI does not certify the report’s conformance to the Guidelines.
“In Accordance” (see 2002 Guidelines for definition)
* Denso Manufacturing Hungary Ltd. (Hungary)
Other Reporters
* Australian Ethical Investment Ltd. (Australia)
* Daiwa Securities Group (Japan)
* Ericsson España (Spain)
* Holcim (Switzerland)
* Mondi Paper (South Africa)
* Kyowa Hakko Group (Japan)
* Seiko Epson (Japan)
* Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (UK)