The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting framework, has launched a new set of proposed disclosures that significantly expand how companies report on pollution impacts. Through its Pollution Standards Project, GRI is introducing new guidance on air pollution and proposing its first dedicated reporting standard on soil pollution, marking a shift toward broader environmental transparency that goes beyond climate metrics alone.
For years, corporate sustainability reporting has been dominated by one environmental metric: carbon. Climate disclosures, greenhouse-gas inventories, and net-zero commitments have become the centerpiece of corporate ESG strategies and sustainability reports worldwide. Yet pollution, in the air communities breathe and the soil that supports ecosystems and food systems, has remained less visible in corporate disclosures. That gap is now beginning to close.
While climate change remains the defining environmental challenge of our time, pollution from industrial processes, energy generation, transportation, and waste continues to have immediate and often severe impacts on human health, ecosystems, and local economies. Air pollution alone is responsible for millions of premature deaths each year globally, according to international health assessments. Despite these risks, corporate disclosures on pollutants such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, or volatile organic compounds have historically been inconsistent or incomplete.
GRI’s new proposals aim to change that. The Air pollution draft standards expand expectations for companies to disclose emissions of harmful air pollutants that have direct impacts on human health and the environment. These include substances such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, and other hazardous air pollutants commonly associated with industrial processes and fossil fuel combustion. While earlier GRI standards addressed emissions primarily through the lens of climate change, particularly through greenhouse-gas reporting, the updated framework recognizes that many pollutants carry distinct environmental and health risks that require separate monitoring and disclosure.
Under the proposed approach, companies would be expected not only to quantify their emissions of key pollutants but also to explain how they manage these impacts within their operations. This includes describing policies, reduction initiatives, monitoring systems, and targets designed to control or reduce air pollution. In addition, organizations would be encouraged to examine pollution impacts across their value chains, acknowledging that environmental risks often extend beyond a company’s direct operations into supply chains and downstream activities.
The emphasis on more structured reporting reflects concerns that existing sustainability disclosures often lack the detail needed to understand real environmental performance. Research conducted by GRI examining sustainability reports from hundreds of large companies found that while many firms acknowledge air pollution as a risk, far fewer provide detailed data on the specific pollutants they emit. This makes it difficult for investors, regulators, communities, and policymakers to compare corporate performance or assess the scale of environmental impacts.
Beyond improving transparency, the new disclosures also highlight the interconnected nature of environmental challenges. Efforts to reduce carbon emissions, for example, can also reduce air pollutants. Shifting from coal-based energy to renewable sources not only lowers greenhouse-gas emissions but also reduces particulate matter and sulfur dioxide, improving local air quality. By encouraging companies to disclose both climate and pollution impacts, GRI hopes to create a more integrated view of environmental performance.
Alongside air pollution, the new proposals introduce something entirely new to the GRI framework: a dedicated topic standard on soil pollution. While soil contamination has long been recognized as an environmental risk, it has rarely been addressed systematically in corporate sustainability reporting. Yet soil pollution can have profound consequences for ecosystems, agriculture, water quality, and public health.
The proposed soil pollution standard seeks to bring this issue into the mainstream of corporate environmental governance. It would require organizations to describe how they manage soil pollution risks, including policies, monitoring approaches, and mitigation strategies. Companies would also be expected to disclose the pollutants they release into soil, referencing recognized pollutant lists or regulatory frameworks used for monitoring. In cases where contamination incidents occur, organizations would need to report these events, including cases of regulatory non-compliance or environmental damage.
The inclusion of soil pollution reflects growing global concern about the degradation of land resources. Soil contamination can occur through industrial waste disposal, mining activities, agricultural chemicals, spills, and improper waste management. Over time, pollutants can accumulate in soil, threatening biodiversity and entering food systems through crops and livestock. By requiring companies to identify and disclose these risks, the new standard aims to strengthen accountability for environmental stewardship across industries.
GRI’s pollution project also includes updates to existing standards related to effluents and waste. Proposed revisions expand disclosure requirements around significant spills and environmental incidents, encouraging organizations to demonstrate how they prevent, prepare for, and respond to pollution events. The objective is to move sustainability reporting beyond static environmental data toward a clearer picture of how companies manage environmental risks in practice.
The draft standards are currently undergoing public consultation, inviting feedback from companies, investors, civil society organizations, and sustainability practitioners. Following this consultation process, the Global Sustainability Standards Board, which oversees the development of GRI standards, is expected to finalize the new pollution disclosures in the coming years.
For companies already reporting under GRI, the proposed changes represent both a challenge and an opportunity. On one hand, organizations may need to strengthen monitoring systems, collect new environmental data, and integrate pollution management more deeply into operational decision-making. On the other, the expanded framework offers a chance to demonstrate leadership in environmental transparency and risk management at a time when stakeholders are demanding greater accountability.
The shift also reflects a broader evolution in sustainability reporting itself. As environmental governance matures, stakeholders are increasingly looking beyond high-level commitments toward measurable impacts on ecosystems and communities. Climate disclosures will remain central, but they are now being complemented by deeper insights into the broader environmental footprint of corporate activity.
In that sense, GRI’s new pollution disclosures signal an important turning point. By bringing air and soil pollution more fully into the reporting landscape, the framework acknowledges that environmental responsibility extends beyond carbon accounting. It encompasses the quality of the air people breathe, the health of the soil that sustains food systems, and the broader ecological balance on which sustainable development ultimately depends.
