Previous GRI Conference highlights
2008
Sustainability Reporting Today: The Readers’ Verdict
7 – 9 May 2008, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
"One surefire way to prove that business is serious about doing “what’s right” is to publish a sustainability report...I know that everyone [here] is grateful to the GRI for their finely tuned set of rules and tools which take the pain out of the writing and reading process. The technically strong, trusted, and user-friendly G3 guidelines are just the latest tool to make reporting easier for us all. And that’s important because in the post-Enron era, reporting, transparency, and accountability are signature issues. They illustrate integrity. They build trust." (Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan at the GRI Conference 2008).
The second Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency co-hosted by GRI and the City of Amsterdam proved to be a spectacular and memorable event. An impressive group of over 1000 participants gathered in to share perspectives on sustainability and transparency. The participants were drawn from 58 countries and consisted of high level representatives from a diverse range of stakeholder groups including business, civil society, trade unions, academia and government.
It was an honor to welcome, among others, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan and Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, Maud Olofsson, as well as Rajendra K. Pachauri Chairman of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize-winning IPCC via teleconference facilities.
The inaugural GRI Readers’ Choice Awards results were announced at a celebratory dinner and organizations from emerging markets stole the show in six out of the eight awards categories.
The findings of the GRI Readers’ Choice Survey were also presented in a cutting edge, independently conducted report by KPMG and SustainAbility - the Global Readers’ Survey Report.
An academic conference and forum sessions were held in parallel to the main proceedings and proved to be highly popular.
In what was a first for GRI, on the final day of the conference, a BBC World Debate was filmed and later broadcast internationally by BBC World News. This gave the wider world a taste of the conference discussions and introduced a new audience to the practice of sustainability reporting.
2006
Reporting: A measure of sustainability
4 – 6 October 2006, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
“Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world, indeed, that is the only way the world has ever been changed.” (Margaret Mead, Anthropologist).
When Al Gore delivered these words to the enthusiastic closing plenary audience, the salience for GRI of Mead’s timeless quote was clear: a once small group is growing through its stakeholders – drawn from around the globe and from broad constituencies – into a powerful influence for positive change.
The former Vice President of the USA went on to declare that the days of sustainability reporting being labeled a “niche” are gone. “It is not a niche. The old way of measuring value is becoming irrelevant to the more complete approach to what we really need to understand and track”, he said.
The first Amsterdam GRI conference was an immense success that brought together 161 speakers and 1,150 participants from dozens of countries, representing business, financial markets, civil society, labor, government, assurance providers and municipalities. Roughly half of the participants were from Europe or North America and 250 originated from 37 developing and emerging market countries.
Showcasing a world-class program, and featuring the launch of the G3 Guidelines, the conference raised global public interest and generated around 75 different news articles, published in over 150 newspapers and publications in 30 countries. This coverage is truly evident of the growing movement behind sustainability reporting and the ever-increasing interest and support among broad groups around the world.
Sustainability Reporting Today: The Readers’ Verdict
7 – 9 May 2008, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
"One surefire way to prove that business is serious about doing “what’s right” is to publish a sustainability report...I know that everyone [here] is grateful to the GRI for their finely tuned set of rules and tools which take the pain out of the writing and reading process. The technically strong, trusted, and user-friendly G3 guidelines are just the latest tool to make reporting easier for us all. And that’s important because in the post-Enron era, reporting, transparency, and accountability are signature issues. They illustrate integrity. They build trust." (Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan at the GRI Conference 2008).
The second Amsterdam Global Conference on Sustainability and Transparency co-hosted by GRI and the City of Amsterdam proved to be a spectacular and memorable event. An impressive group of over 1000 participants gathered in to share perspectives on sustainability and transparency. The participants were drawn from 58 countries and consisted of high level representatives from a diverse range of stakeholder groups including business, civil society, trade unions, academia and government.
It was an honor to welcome, among others, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan and Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, Maud Olofsson, as well as Rajendra K. Pachauri Chairman of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize-winning IPCC via teleconference facilities.
The inaugural GRI Readers’ Choice Awards results were announced at a celebratory dinner and organizations from emerging markets stole the show in six out of the eight awards categories.
The findings of the GRI Readers’ Choice Survey were also presented in a cutting edge, independently conducted report by KPMG and SustainAbility - the Global Readers’ Survey Report.
An academic conference and forum sessions were held in parallel to the main proceedings and proved to be highly popular.
In what was a first for GRI, on the final day of the conference, a BBC World Debate was filmed and later broadcast internationally by BBC World News. This gave the wider world a taste of the conference discussions and introduced a new audience to the practice of sustainability reporting.
2006
Reporting: A measure of sustainability
4 – 6 October 2006, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
“Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world, indeed, that is the only way the world has ever been changed.” (Margaret Mead, Anthropologist).
When Al Gore delivered these words to the enthusiastic closing plenary audience, the salience for GRI of Mead’s timeless quote was clear: a once small group is growing through its stakeholders – drawn from around the globe and from broad constituencies – into a powerful influence for positive change.
The former Vice President of the USA went on to declare that the days of sustainability reporting being labeled a “niche” are gone. “It is not a niche. The old way of measuring value is becoming irrelevant to the more complete approach to what we really need to understand and track”, he said.
The first Amsterdam GRI conference was an immense success that brought together 161 speakers and 1,150 participants from dozens of countries, representing business, financial markets, civil society, labor, government, assurance providers and municipalities. Roughly half of the participants were from Europe or North America and 250 originated from 37 developing and emerging market countries.
Showcasing a world-class program, and featuring the launch of the G3 Guidelines, the conference raised global public interest and generated around 75 different news articles, published in over 150 newspapers and publications in 30 countries. This coverage is truly evident of the growing movement behind sustainability reporting and the ever-increasing interest and support among broad groups around the world.
