key concepts in GRI Standards: impacts and material topics

Question 1

what are the key concepts covered in the section of the GRI Standards?

Answer 1

impact
material topics
due diligence
stakeholders

Question 2

what is the purpose of the GRI Standards?

Answer 2

is to enable organizations to report information about their most significant impacts on the economy,
environment, and people, including impacts on their human rights

Question 3

______ & __________ help organizations identify their most significant impacts.

Answer 3

due diligence and stakeholder engagement

Question 4

_______ refers to the effect an organization has or could have on the economy, environment, and
people, including effects on their human rights, as a result of the _____ or _____.

Answer 4

impacts

organization’s activities or business relationships

Question 5

impacts can be:

Answer 5

actual or potential
negative or positive
short term or long term
intended or unintended
reversible or irreversible

Question 6

Impacts indicate the organization’s contribution, negative or positive to _____

Answer 6

sustainable development

Question 7

The organization’s impacts on the economy refer to the

Answer 7

impacts on economic systems at local, national, and global levels.

Question 8

An organization can have an impact on the economy through, for example, its:

Answer 8

its competition practices
its procurement practices
its taxes and payments to governments

Question 9

The organization’s impacts on the environment refer to the impacts on living organisms and non-living elements, including

Answer 9

air, land, water, and ecosystems

Question 10

An organization can have an impact on the environment through, for
example, its use of

Answer 10

energy, land, water, and other natural resources

Question 11

The organization’s impacts on people refer to the impacts on

Answer 11

individuals and groups, such as communities,

vulnerable groups, or society.

Question 12

The organization’s impacts on people refer to the impacts on individuals and groups, includes

Answer 12

the impacts the organization has on people’s human right

Question 13

An organization can have an impact on people through, for example,

Answer 13

its employment practices (e.g., the wages it pays to employees)

its supply chain (e.g., the working conditions of workers of suppliers)

its products and services (e.g., their safety or accessibility).

Question 14

Individuals or groups that have interests that are affected or could be affected by the
organization’s activities are referred to as

Answer 14

stakeholders

Question 15

The impacts on the economy, environment, and people are

Answer 15

interrelated

Question 16

an organization’s impacts on

the economy and environment can result in

Answer 16

impacts on people and their human rights

Question 17

an organization’s positive impacts on the

environment can lead to

Answer 17

negative impacts on people and their human rights

Question 18

An organization may identify many ____ on which to report

Answer 18

impacts

Question 19

In the GRI Standards, these are the organization’s material topics

Answer 19

topics that represent its most significant impacts on the economy, environment, and
people, including impacts on their human rights.

Question 20

Examples of material topics are

Answer 20

anti-corruption
occupational health and safety
water and effluents

Question 21

A topic need not be limited to impacts on the economy, the environment, or people; it can cover impacts

Answer 21

across all three dimensions

Question 22

The GRI Standards group impacts

into topics, like ‘water and effluents’, to help organizations report cohesively about

Answer 22

multiple impacts that relate to the

same topic

Question 23

The process of determining material topics is informed by the organization’s

Answer 23

ongoing identification and assessment

of impacts.

Question 24

The ongoing identification and assessment of impacts involves

Answer 24

engaging with relevant stakeholders and

experts and it is conducted independently of the sustainability reporting process.