Biodiversity is an integral part of the Earth’s ecosystems, with a wide range of niches essential to sustain life. Organizations impact biodiversity when they extract resources, develop infrastructure, and interact with the environment in other ways. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has developed the GRI 304: Biodiversity standards to provide clear guidance for companies to report their impacts.
What Is the GRI 304 Standard?
GRI 304: Biodiversity 2016 outlines disclosures for biodiversity-related impacts and how an organization manages those impacts. That includes a variety of aspects that an organization’s activities can affect, including protected areas, sensitive habitats, and at-risk species.
Using this standard for sustainability reporting allows companies to accurately evaluate their impacts and to demonstrate their efforts toward mitigation, restoration, and otherwise addressing those impacts. Evaluating the disclosures therein will help companies better manage operational sites near protected areas, restore habitats, measure success, and recognize adverse implications for vulnerable or endangered species.
What Are the GRI Guidelines for GRI 304?
GRI 304 contains four disclosures focusing on specific topics related to an organization’s biodiversity impact and management.
Disclosure 304-1: Operational Sites Owned, Leased, Managed in, or Adjacent to, Protected Areas and Areas of High Biodiversity Value
Disclosure 304-1 requires organizations to list each of their operational sites, including those owned, leased, or otherwise managed, that are adjacent to protected areas (such as those defined under national legislation or under IUCN Protected Area Management Categories) or areas of high biodiversity value.
For each site, organizations must report:
- The geographic location
- Any subsurface/underground land owned, leased, or managed
- The position relative to protected or high-biodiversity areas
- The type of operation
- The size of the operational site in km2 or other appropriate units
- The specific biodiversity attribute (terrestrial, freshwater, or marine ecosystem)
- Any protected status
This also includes disclosure for any sites where future operations have been formally announced. Monitoring and documenting activities near or within these sensitive areas lets organizations better identify and manage risks to avoid negative biodiversity impacts.
Disclosure 304-2: Significant Impacts of Activities, Products, and Services on Biodiversity
Disclosure 304-2 focuses on significant direct and indirect effects on biodiversity caused by an organization’s activities, products, and services. Companies must report the nature of any significant impacts, including:
- Construction or operation of manufacturing plants, mines, and transport infrastructure
- Pollution from point and non-point sources
- Introduction of invasive species, pests, and pathogens
- Reduction of species
- Habitat conversion
- Changes in ecological processes outside natural variation
Organizations should report both positive and negative impacts, providing information including:
- Species affected
- The extent of areas impacted
- Duration of impacts
- Reversibility or irreversibility of impacts
When evaluating impact, indirect impacts can include both upstream and downstream supply chain activities. Areas of impact aren’t strictly limited to officially protected zones but can also include buffer zones or other ecologically sensitive regions. This disclosure helps businesses understand how their operations impact biodiversity and take action on mitigation, site restoration, and adopting more sustainable operational practices.
Disclosure 304-3: Habitats Protected or Restored
Disclosure 304-3 encompasses any activities the organization has undertaken to protect or restore habitats. Companies must report:
- The size and location of all habitat areas that the organization has protected or restored and whether the success of the efforts has been approved by independent professionals
- Whether there are any partnerships with third parties to protect or restore habitat areas where the organization has overseen and implemented restoration or protection
- The status of each area based on its condition at the close of the reporting period
- The standards, methodologies, and assumptions used to assess and implement habitat protection or restoration
The organization should align information reported with any regulatory or license requirements for the protection or restoration of habitats if applicable. Areas where operations are still active can be counted as well if they have been effectively restored or protected. This disclosure helps organizations take tangible, positive steps toward addressing biodiversity loss by safeguarding habitats.
Disclosure 304-4: IUCN Red List Species and National Conservation List Species With Habitats in Areas Affected by Operations
GRI 304-4 requires organizations to report any IUCN Red List or other nationally recognized conservation list species with habitats in areas affected by operations. Companies must report species by level of extinction risk:
- Critically endangered
- Endangered
- Vulnerable
- Near threatened
- Least concern
This disclosure is critical to allow organizations to identify threatened species that could be impacted by operations and to ensure that proper measures are put in place to protect the species and their habitats.
Do You Have Everything You Need for GRI 304 Disclosure?
GRI 304 requires organizations to provide data on a variety of key biodiversity topics for all of their operational sites. Managing that data can be a challenge, especially given the non-standard nature of many of these metrics. However, doing so is vital to support your sustainability efforts and reduce your impact on biodiversity.
You can take a streamlined approach to GRI 304 and other material standards with ERA’s Corporate Sustainability Software. Take advantage of custom sustainability metrics to track all types of data required for GRI reporting. Book a discovery call today to find out more about how ERA can help your organization take a better approach to sustainability reporting.
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