Latin American Spirit at the GRI Global Conference 2016
The Latin America region has shown a notable eagerness to get to grips with sustainability challenges of our time, and Brazil in particular has a sound reporting base with 31% of all GRI reports from Latin America submitted to the GRI Sustainability Database in 2015 coming from companies in Brazil.
15.03.2016
“Latin America is a very inspiring region for GRI”, explains Nikki McKean Wood, Director Corporate and Stakeholder Relations, GRI. “Brazil in particular has always had a strong presence with engaged delegations attending our Global Conference. We often see active participants, speakers and sponsors. And even with the challenge of the recession, we see engaged companies in the region, evolving in the process of reporting."
The pre-conference events were held in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba, providing lively discussions about sustainability progress, frustrations and the plans for the next 10 years.
A growing recognition for sustainability reporting
In Curitiba, the event was hosted by company Itaipu Binacional. Head of the Social Responsibility Advisory Board at Itaipu Binacional and member of the GRI Corporate Leadership Group for Reporting 2025, Heloisa Covolan called on participants to celebrate the increase of sustainability reporting among companies and also within governments, from the municipal to the federal.
Paulo Zanardi, GRI Community Leader in the State of Paraná, shared his view of the most significant advance in the recent years: the fact that sustainability became widely known throughout the world and is now part of the decision-making process in many companies. Paulo Pereira, Sustainability Superintendent of Copel reinforced this view: “Companies with bad practices in our supply chain present a risk. If something bad happens, society will hold us accountable.”
Recently the Brazilian stock exchange, BM&F Bovespa, announced the 11th portfolio of the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE), effective from 4 January, 2016 to 29 December, 2016. ISE reflects the average return of a theoretical portfolio of equities in publicly traded companies listed on BM&FBOVESPA and which have sustainability best practices.
According to the ISE data, there has been a significant increase in companies’ transparency since last year. For example, 93% of companies declare a corporate policy regarding climate change, approved by the Board of Directors or upper management of the company, compared with 83% in the previous year.
93% of companies declare that they have committed to previously established greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets, compared with 67% last year. Meanwhile, 7% of companies have not established such targets, compared with 33% in the previous year.
100% of companies publish a sustainability report in accordance with GRI directives, an increase of 7% from the previous year.
Why attend the 5th GRI Global Conference?
The 5th GRI Global Conference will be held 18–20 May 2016 at RAI Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Join GRI and up to 1,500 sustainability leaders from around the globe to exchange leading-edge knowledge on sustainability best practices, innovations and trends that are empowering sustainable decisions and changing the world.
Empowering Sustainable Decisions
The 5th GRI Conference will create an inclusive platform to inspire and engage a truly global network of sustainability leaders.
GRI pioneered sustainability reporting in the late 1990's and has since become the globally accepted standard for enabling business, governments and other organizations to understand and communicate their impacts on critical sustainability issues. As we move towards a new era of sustainability, it is clear that for information to truly empower decision making it must be more accessible, comparable and available in real time. GRI’s focus at the 2016 Conference is to deliver innovative sustainability content that embraces this new era, enable capacity building, networking, and peer-to-peer learning.
Be Inspired
Contribute to solutions for sustainability challenges and build your own knowledge; exchange thought leadership in session discussions, share experiences and triumphs through peer to peer learning and take away tools from engaging master classes.
Consider new ways to approach solutions, see a showcase of global commitments, services and products in the marketplace.
Gain access to GRI’s global network and engage with sustainability leaders to bring their insights into your initiatives, seek new and lasting collaborations with potential clients and partners.
