The application of the GRI 2016 standards in Polish enterprises

Abstract

Aspects of sustainable development are increasingly included in the reports of Polish enterprises. The scope of information presented by organizations results from applicable guidelines, regulations as well as accepted good practices. The most common and comprehensive guidelines in the field of sustainable development reporting are the Global Reporting Initiative standards, which used by numerous organisa- tions around the world. The aim of the article is to present the GRI standards 2016 and their application in the first Polish enterprises to implement them in their reports. The research method used is the content analysis of reports of selected Polish enterprises. According to the research, detailed information related to sustainable development is not widely disclosed. Approximately 30% of the required information on eco-nomic and social aspects, and only 10% of information on environmental aspects, was included in the reports, which means a moderate level compared to other countries. The study contributes to the under-standing of current sustainable development reporting practices according to the GRI standards 2016 in Poland. It can help other organisations consider implementing GRI in their reporting, and it might be rele-vant for people dealing with this type of reporting.

Keywords

• sustainable development
• non-financial information
• GRI