Sector Standards Project for Agriculture and Fishing
Why agriculture and fishing
This sector has been prioritized based on its widely documented impacts across economic, environmental, and social dimensions, including its impacts on climate change, biodiversity, and human rights. This new standard project aims to help agriculture and fishing organizations improve how they disclose and manage their impacts.
Producing a Sector Standard can help companies with agriculture and fishing activities in their value chain understand their role in sustainable development and promote positive changes in transparency and accountability in the sector. Transparency enables a much-needed discussion on the sustainable future of the food production system among a wide array of stakeholders, including companies, investors, civil society, policymakers, academia, the general public, and other stakeholders.
About this project
In 2019, the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), GRI's independent standard setting body, initiated a project under the GRI Sector Program to develop a GRI Sector Standard for agriculture and fishing.
The aim of this project is to identify and describe the significant impacts and stakeholder concerns for the agriculture and fishing sector from a sustainable development perspective, which will serve as a foundation for increased transparency and more consistent reporting from organizations in the sector.
The project follows the GSSB Due Process Protocol, the implementation of which
is overseen by the Due Process Oversight Committee
Project timelines
This timeline is subject to change
December 2019: Project commencement
April 2020: Appointment of the working group
April-November 2020: Development of exposure draft
Q1 2021: Public comment period
Q1-Q2 2021: Consideration of received comments and revisions
Q3 2021: The expected release of Sector Standard
Meet our working group
A multi-stakeholder Agriculture and Fishing Working Group appointed by the GSSB began its work on the project in April 2020.