Over the years, hundreds of organizations have used the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines as the basis for their reporting, and thousands of stakeholders have used information presented in these reports issued by the reporting organizations. This article presents the Third Generation (G3) of GRI guidelines, which is projected to be released in October 2006, and primarily focuses on the reporting principles.

The goal of sustainable development is to `meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'. Transparency about the sustainability of organizational operations holds considerable interest to a wide range of stakeholders. This stakeholder group includes businesses, non-governmental organizations, investors, accountancy firms, and others. Since its founding in 1997, GRI has depended on the collaboration of a voluntary network of experts from all of the stakeholder groups in consensus-seeking consultations, which have resulted in the creation and continuous improvement of the reporting framework of an organization.

G3 of GRI guidelines is primarily the result of a multi-stakeholder collaboration that has occurred over 2004 and 2005. It was released in January for 90 days to invite widespread public comment. Based on the comments received, it will be amended to undergo an approval process involving GRI's governance system.

The Accounting World Magazine, Third Generation, Global Reporting Initiative, Non-governmental Organizations, Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, Organizational Performance, Operational Management Systems, Organizational Goals, Organizational Strategies, Business Strategy.