Decoding Biodiversity Impacts: A Practical Guide to Reporting on Nature Using GRI Standards

 "Decoding Biodiversity Impacts: A Practical Guide to Reporting on Nature Using GRI Standards"

This e-book, published by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), aims to provide practical support to organizations, helping them use the GRI 101 Biodiversity standard to report their impacts on nature.

The guide compiles lessons learned from the 2024–2025 GRI Community Biodiversity Pilot program, in which 14 companies from various industries participated as early adopters of GRI 101. Case studies from four of these companies—City Developments Limited (CDL), Coca-Cola HBC, Enel, and JSW Steel—highlight how to measure, manage, and report biodiversity impacts, offering adaptable insights that other organizations can apply.

The section on GRI 101 Biodiversity reporting, written by Elodie Chêne, explains how GRI 101 helps companies identify the direct drivers of biodiversity loss (such as land-use change, pollution, etc.), map impact locations, and assess effects on ecosystems and communities.

The standard emphasizes interoperability and is aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), and the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN), supporting global monitoring and reporting efforts.

GRI 101: Biodiversity 2024** is a major revision released by GRI in January 2024, replacing the previous **GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016.

The standard becomes effective from January 1, 2026, and applies to organizations of any size, type, sector, or geographic location. It helps them report biodiversity-related impacts and how they are managed. When preparing ESG reports, if biodiversity is one of the material topics, organizations should switch to GRI 101 for the relevant disclosures.

# Key Differences between GRI 304 (2016) and GRI 101 (2024)

GRI 101 applies to reporting for operating years 2025 and onward. Its purpose is to reflect the latest global best practices, align with the targets and goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and improve the completeness, consistency, and comparability of reporting.

**Comparison of Key Differences:**

- **Scope and Focus**  

  GRI 304: Primarily limited to the organization’s own operations, with limited requirements concerning the value chain (supply chain).  

  GRI 101: Biodiversity 2024: Explicitly covers the full value chain (operations + value chain), including upstream suppliers, downstream customers, and other business relationships. One of the biggest changes is the expansion from “own operations” to the “value chain,” requiring disclosure of the most significant impacts related to products/services in the supply chain.

- **Reporting Focus**  

  GRI 304: Emphasizes location-specific disclosures (e.g., sites adjacent to protected areas, IUCN Red List species, key habitats).  

  GRI 101: Focuses on the most significant (material) impacts and requires explanation of how these impacts were identified (Disclosure 101-4). The new version explicitly states to report “only the most significant impacts,” reducing the burden of reporting everything and placing greater emphasis on prioritization.

- **Direct Drivers Disclosure**  

  GRI 304: Only requires reporting of significant direct and indirect impacts (304-2), without explicitly listing drivers.  

  GRI 101: Introduces Disclosure 101-6: Report the five direct drivers of biodiversity loss (as defined by IPBES): land/ocean use change, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, pollution, and invasive alien species. Replaces 304-2-a and explicitly requires quantification of drivers (e.g., area of land converted, volume of water withdrawn) to clarify how biodiversity is affected.

- **Ecosystem Condition Changes**  

  GRI 304: Requires reporting on affected species/habitats (304-4), but in a relatively general way.  

  GRI 101: Introduces Disclosure 101-7: Report the type of affected ecosystems, baseline area (hectares), baseline year, and current condition (structure, composition, function). Replaces 304-2-b and 304-4. Requires more precise measurement using scientific methods (e.g., forest integrity index, species abundance) and allows use of condition-adjusted area.

- **Impacts on People (Social Dimension)**  

  GRI 304: Limited direct linkage to human rights or community impacts.  

  GRI 101: Adds requirements to report impacts on beneficiaries (especially Indigenous Peoples and local communities) regarding ecosystem services (101-8), and links to Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) procedures (101-3). Complements GRI 411 (Indigenous Peoples’ rights) and GRI 413 (Local Communities), emphasizing stakeholder engagement in restoration actions and avoiding negative impacts (101-2).

- **Management Disclosures**  

  GRI 304: Only 304-3 (habitat protection/restoration programs).  

  GRI 101: Introduces three new management disclosures (101-1 to 101-3): policies aligned with the Kunming-Montreal Framework (101-1), application of the mitigation hierarchy (101-2), and ABS procedures (101-3). Supplements GRI 3-3 by strengthening disclosure of policies, mitigation hierarchy (Avoid, Minimize, Restore, Offset), transformation actions, and management of impacts on stakeholders.

- **Location-Specific Information**  

  GRI 304: Requires reporting of sites adjacent to protected areas or areas of high biodiversity value (304-1).  

  GRI 101: Strengthens Disclosure 101-5: Report location, area (hectares), and whether the most significant sites are in sensitive areas (per Appendix 1 criteria, e.g., KBAs, high water-stress areas). Places greater emphasis on map/polygon geolocation and extends coverage to value chain countries/products.

- **Interoperability and Alignment**  

  GRI 304: Limited linkage to other frameworks.  

  GRI 101: High alignment with the Kunming-Montreal Framework, TNFD LEAP approach, SBTN, ESRS, etc., supporting global/national monitoring. Encourages use of units such as condition-adjusted area. Designed with interoperability in mind to reduce duplicate reporting (e.g., sharing the five drivers concept with TNFD).

### Summary: Why GRI 101 Represents a Major Upgrade

Shift from **location-based** to **impact-based + full value chain coverage**: The old standard focused mainly on whether sites were near protected areas; the new standard requires quantification of the most significant impacts and drivers across the value chain.

More scientific, comparable, and action-oriented: Introduction of direct drivers, quantification of ecosystem condition changes, application of the mitigation hierarchy, and impacts on people enables companies to move beyond reporting and translate disclosures into concrete management actions (e.g., achieving No Net Loss or Net Positive outcomes).

The **Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework** (often abbreviated as Kunming-Montreal GBF or GBF) is the landmark agreement adopted on December 19, 2022, at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), held in Montreal, Canada. The conference was hosted by China and presided over by Canada.

It is the new global biodiversity strategy following the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (2011–2020), aiming to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and achieve the vision of “living in harmony with nature.”

Adopted at COP15 in 2022, the framework replaces previous strategies and serves as the global blueprint for biodiversity action until 2030. It responds to the current biodiversity crisis: human activities are driving approximately one million species toward extinction, with biodiversity loss occurring at an unprecedented rate.

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