Indice
GRI has published GRI 102: Climate Change 2025, its first Topic Standard devoted entirely to climate. It applies to climate reporting published on or after 1 January 2027, and early adoption is encouraged. When it takes effect it withdraws the greenhouse gas disclosures in GRI 305: Emissions 2016, specifically 305-1 to 305-5, and the climate disclosure in GRI 201: Economic Performance 2016, disclosure 201-2.
The shift runs deeper than a change of numbers. GRI 305 asked organisations to measure their greenhouse gases. GRI 102 keeps that measurement at its centre and builds a fuller account around it: how a company plans to cut emissions, how it will adapt to physical climate risk, and how the move to a low-carbon economy affects workers and communities. GRI developed the standard alongside GRI 103: Energy 2025, which replaces GRI 302 and carries the same effective date.
What GRI 102 replaces, and when
GRI 102 is the climate piece of a wider refresh of GRI’s Topic Standards. GRI 101: Biodiversity 2024 came first and has applied since 1 January 2026. GRI 102 and GRI 103 follow on 1 January 2027.
The timing works by publication date. GRI 102 applies to climate information published on or after 1 January 2027, so a report issued in 2027 on the 2026 financial year already falls within its scope. Organisations that want to move sooner may adopt it early.
On the effective date, GRI withdraws five disclosures from GRI 305, numbers 305-1 to 305-5, which cover Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, emissions intensity and the reduction of emissions. It also withdraws disclosure 201-2 from GRI 201, which dealt with the financial implications and the risks and opportunities that climate change creates. These requirements are not dropped. They move into GRI 102 in a reorganised and, in several places, expanded form.
From counting emissions to managing them
The defining feature of GRI 102 is that it treats climate as something to be governed and disclosed, not only counted. A company that already reports under GRI 305 has the measurement foundation. What GRI 102 adds is the work around that foundation: a plan to reduce emissions, a plan to adapt, targets tested against science, and an honest account of who carries the cost of the transition.
The standard sets out ten disclosures in two groups. Two cover how the organisation manages climate change. Eight cover its climate impacts. Five carry the greenhouse gas measurement core forward from GRI 305. Five are new.
The measurement core
- Scope 1 (102-5)
- Scope 2 (102-6)
- Scope 3 (102-7)
- Emissions intensity (102-8)
- Reduction targets and progress (102-4)
The management and social view
- Transition plan (102-1)
- Adaptation plan (102-2)
- Just transition (102-3)
- GHG removals (102-9)
- Carbon credits (102-10)
The ten disclosures
Open any disclosure below for what it asks.
Managing climate change
102-1 · Transition plan for climate change mitigation
New disclosure. The plan to move onto a low-emissions path: mitigation actions, any fossil fuel phase-out targets, governance, stakeholder engagement and the spending behind it, set against the best available science.
102-2 · Climate change adaptation plan
New disclosure. How the organisation identifies physical climate risks and opportunities, tests them through scenario analysis, and acts on them, including the effects on people and the environment.
Climate impacts
102-3 · Just transition
New disclosure. How decarbonisation affects workers and communities: recruitment, redeployment, redundancy, reskilling and wages, and the effects on communities and biodiversity.
102-4 · GHG emissions reduction targets and progress
Carries forward GRI 305-5. Reduction targets across Scope 1, 2 and 3, set separately or combined, with progress against them and alignment to the latest science.
102-5 · Scope 1 GHG emissions
Carries forward GRI 305-1. Direct emissions from sources the organisation owns or controls.
102-6 · Scope 2 GHG emissions
Carries forward GRI 305-2. Indirect emissions from the energy the organisation buys.
102-7 · Scope 3 GHG emissions
Carries forward GRI 305-3. Value chain emissions, upstream and downstream, usually the largest share and the hardest to gather.
102-8 · GHG emissions intensity
Carries forward GRI 305-4. Emissions measured against a unit of activity, so performance can be compared over time.
102-9 · GHG removals in the value chain
New disclosure. Greenhouse gases removed within the value chain, and the effects of those removals on people and biodiversity.
102-10 · Carbon credits
New disclosure. Any credits used, with their cancellation, the detail of the projects behind them, and how environmental and social effects are monitored.
Just transition enters climate reporting
The headline change: climate reporting now carries a social dimension. GRI 102 asks who bears the cost and the benefit of the transition, not only how many tonnes a company emits.
GRI ran the project under the name Climate Change and Just Transition, and disclosure 102-3 gives that title substance. It asks organisations to show how the shift to a low-carbon model affects the people connected to it. For many reporters this is new ground, because the data sits across human resources, community relations and site records rather than the emissions ledger. Disclosure 102-3 covers:
- Recruitment, redeployment and redundancy as roles change
- Reskilling and upskilling of the workforce
- Wage levels through the transition
- Effects on local communities
- Effects on biodiversity
- How the organisation engages the people affected
Targets, removals and carbon credits
Three of the impact disclosures tighten the link between a climate claim and the evidence behind it.
Disclosure 102-4 asks for greenhouse gas reduction targets across Scope 1, 2 and 3, set separately or combined, with progress against them and a check that the targets align with the latest science. A target on its own is no longer enough. The standard expects the trajectory and the science behind it.
Disclosure 102-9 brings greenhouse gas removals in the value chain into scope, and asks for the effects of those removals on people and biodiversity, not only the tonnes removed. Disclosure 102-10 does the same for carbon credits. A company that uses credits must show their cancellation, the detail of the projects behind them, and how it monitors their environmental and social effects. The theme across all three is consistency between what a company claims and what it can evidence.
How GRI 102 sits with ESRS and IFRS S2
Few organisations report against a single framework, and GRI 102 was built to sit beside the others. Open each one below.
ESRS E1 · the EU climate standard
For companies in scope of the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, climate runs through ESRS E1. GRI and EFRAG maintain an interoperability index that maps the ESRS climate requirements to the GRI climate disclosures, and GRI has said it will update that mapping to GRI 102. Under the revised 2026 ESRS, the gross Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions sit at datapoint E1-8.
IFRS S2 · the investor lens
For investors, the reference point is IFRS S2 from the ISSB. GRI and the ISSB have stated that an organisation can use its IFRS S2 figures for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions to meet the corresponding requirements in GRI 102. In practice, one emissions dataset can serve an IFRS S2 filing and a GRI 102 disclosure. This is the investor audience GRI also addresses through its work on GRI for capital markets.
Collecting once · across frameworks
The common thread is that the same data point can satisfy more than one framework. Our interoperability approach maps each figure to every standard that asks for it, so a Scope 3 number or a target is gathered once and disclosed in GRI 102, ESRS E1 and IFRS S2.
How ready are you for GRI 102?
Tick what you already do. This is a quick gauge, not a formal gap analysis, and nothing you tick leaves your browser.
Start with your emissions inventory. It is the backbone of GRI 102.
What it means for reporting and systems
The measurement core will feel familiar, but the surrounding disclosures change the data a company needs to hold.
Scope 3 is the largest task for most organisations, and GRI 102 keeps it central. Targets now need a documented link to science and a record of progress over time. The transition plan and the adaptation plan call for governance detail and spending figures, not only intentions. Just transition data pulls in workforce and community information that often lives outside the sustainability function. Removals and carbon credits need records that would stand up to assurance, down to the cancellation of a single credit.
The practical answer is to collect each data point once and map it to every framework that asks for it, so the same emissions figure, target or credit record feeds GRI 102, ESRS E1 and IFRS S2 without being gathered three times, and can be tagged digitally through the GRI Sustainability Taxonomy for machine-readable reporting. Teams that treat GRI 102 as a data and systems question now, rather than a reporting question in the final quarter, will find 2027 far easier. For the standard in practice, see our GRI reporting software and guide to using the GRI Standards.
Getting ready for GRI 102
Generation Impact Global is a licensed GRI software partner, listed in GRI’s Software and Tools Partners directory. Our platform supports GRI reporting, including the new Topic Standards, and maps your data across ESRS, IFRS S2 and the EU Taxonomy, so you collect once and disclose in several frameworks. You can start free and build your GRI reporting at your own pace.
Fonti primarie
- The GRI Standards (Global Reporting Initiative)
- GRI 102: Climate Change 2025, Frequently Asked Questions (Global Reporting Initiative)
Domande frequenti
When does GRI 102 take effect?
GRI 102 applies to climate reporting published on or after 1 January 2027. Early adoption is encouraged.
What does GRI 102 replace?
It replaces the greenhouse gas disclosures in GRI 305: Emissions 2016 (305-1 to 305-5) and disclosure 201-2 in GRI 201: Economic Performance 2016. Both are withdrawn when GRI 102 takes effect.
What is new compared with GRI 305?
Five disclosures are new: the transition plan (102-1), the adaptation plan (102-2), just transition (102-3), GHG removals in the value chain (102-9) and carbon credits (102-10). The five emissions disclosures carried over from GRI 305 are reorganised, and the targets disclosure is now tied to the latest science.
Can we use our IFRS S2 emissions figures for GRI 102?
Yes. GRI and the ISSB have stated that organisations can use their IFRS S2 figures for Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions to meet the corresponding requirements in GRI 102.
How does GRI 102 relate to the ESRS?
GRI and EFRAG maintain an interoperability index that maps the ESRS climate requirements to the GRI climate disclosures, and GRI has said it will update it to GRI 102. Under the revised 2026 ESRS, gross Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions sit at datapoint E1-8.
Should we adopt GRI 102 early?
That depends on your reporting cycle and readiness. Early adoption lets you align climate reporting with the revised ESRS and IFRS S2 sooner, and it spreads the work of building the transition, adaptation and just transition disclosures across more than one cycle.
