XML Schema for sustainability reports meeting the needs of the GRI guidelines

Abstract

In this paper, an outline is given of how to develop a comprehensive XML Schema for corporate sustainability reports. In order to ensure methodological rigour, this development is based on prior experience in designing XML Document Type Definitions (DTDs) for environmental reports; further, it is embedded into an overall process with the goal to promote the standardisation of document structures for advanced environmental and sustainability reporting using internet technologies and services. The XML Schema in particular meets the “Sustainability Reporting Guidelines” of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), released in 2002, and a number of other reporting requirements, e.g. the revised European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme “EMAS II”, the international standard ISO 14001 on “Environmental Management Systems”, the German standard DIN 33922 “Environmental Reports for the Public”, the early international guideline on “Company Environmental Reporting” proposed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and SustainAbility, its German counterpart “Environmental Reports – Environmental Statements. Guidelines on Preparation and Distribution” recommended through future e.V. and the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IÖW), and a recently published publicly available specification (PAS) on the “Data exchange between ERP Systems and Environmental Information Systems”. The rationale why the XML Schema is explicitly focused on the GRI guidelines is that GRI represents the most forceful standard-setting organisation in the field of environmental and sustainability reporting, and thus its requirements will most likely become the de facto standard for sustainability reports, worldwide. Companies exactly meeting the needs of the GRI are reporting “in accordance with GRI” that is probably one of the highest levels of ensuring quality, rigour and utility within the field.