RP1: Sustainability Reporting
Prefill
Not eligible
Validation
Evidence is manually validated
Does the entity disclose its sustainability actions and/or performance?
Assessment Instructions
Intent: What is the purpose of this indicator?
This indicator intends to assess the quality of sustainability disclosure undertaken by the entity, including disclosure of sustainability actions and performance.
Clear, consistent reporting helps demonstrate how the entity’s policies and management practices are implemented and how they influence performance, forming an important part of external communication. Third-party review further strengthens confidence in the information disclosed.
Input: How do I complete this indicator?
Select Yes or No: If 'Yes,' select applicable sub-options. Describe one main report/piece of disclosure when answering the following questions.
Stakeholder Outreach: Select stakeholder groups to which the report is available: publicly or specifically to investors.
Public reporting: Select if the information is publicly accessible on the internet. If the entity reports publicly, GRESB considers the report to be available to all stakeholder groups.
Reporting specifically to investors: Select when the participant prepares the disclosure for the purpose of informing investors of the entity's sustainability performance.
Third-Party Standard/Framework Alignment: Indicate whether the disclosure is aligned with a third-party framework/standard. If selecting 'Yes', select the applicable standard from the list in a dropdown menu. The list is based on leading international best practice guides for sustainability reporting. If reporting is aligned with more than one standard, select the standard with which there is the most alignment.
Standards/frameworks from the list are:
INREV Sustainability Reporting Guidelines
EPRA Best Practice Recommendations in Sustainability Reporting
ESRS-aligned reporting
GRI Standards
IFRS Integrated Reporting Framework
INREV Sustainability Guidelines
PRI Reporting Framework
ISSB standards (IFRS S1, IFRS S2)
SFDR Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation
b. Other guideline: If the standard/framework used for alignment is not available on the list, select the 'Other guideline' option and input the name of the guideline in an open text box. Note that the 'Other guideline' option is not scored. GRESB will review the reported guidelines and will add commonly used frameworks to the drop-down list.
Third-Party Review: State whether the disclosure is checked, verified, or assured by an independent third party (select one option; the most detailed level of scrutiny to which the disclosure was subject). Select the assurance/verification standard (if applicable) from the dropdown menu.
The Scheme Lists page contains the complete list of accepted assurance and verification schemes.
Additional assurance schemes may also receive recognition if they meet GRESB’s criteria. To submit a new scheme for review, please contact the GRESB team.
The final deadline for submitting a new assurance/verification scheme for review by the GRESB team is March 15th. Schemes submitted for review after March 15th will not be reviewed until the subsequent reporting year.
Terminology
Alignment
To agree and match with a recognized sustainability reporting standard (either voluntary or mandatory).
Disclosure
The act of making information or data readily accessible and available to all interested individuals and institutions. Disclosure must be external and cannot be an internal and/or ad hoc communication.
Sustainability actions
Specific activities performed to improve management of environmental, social and governance issues within the entity.
Sustainability performance
Reporting of material indicators that reflect implementation of environmental, social, or governance management
Entity level
Explicitly applicable to the reporting entity as identified in EC1. Note that references to the overarching fund and/or group of which the reporting entity is part do not imply entity-level applicability.
Externally checked
Applies to instances when a third party has reviewed the data in a structured and consistent process, but no official certification has been awarded.
Externally verified
Applies to instances where a third party has reviewed the reporting against an existing scheme. When this checkbox is ticked, participants must select the scheme name from the dropdown.
Note that GRESB treats verification and assurance equally in the context of the assessment
Externally assured
Applies to instances where a third party has reviewed the data against an existing scheme. When this checkbox is ticked, participants should select the scheme name from the dropdown.
Note that GRESB treats verification and assurance equally in the context of the assessment
Validation: What evidence is required?
Evidence
The evidence provided will be subject to manual validation.
The evidence should sufficiently support all the items selected for this question. If a hyperlink is provided, ensure that it is active and that the relevant page can be accessed within two steps. It is possible to upload multiple documents, as long as it’s clear where information can be found.
General evidence requirements
Reporting year: The disclosure should cover the reporting year as described in EC4. Reports from the prior reporting year detailing actions and/or performance are acceptable if it is explicitly stated that the report for the current reporting year has not yet been published. If an entity reports on a semi-annual basis, both semi-annual reports must be uploaded to cover the 12 months of reporting identified in EC4.
Content requirements: The evidence must explicitly address sustainability and include actions and/or performance undertaken by the entity; a list of general goals and/or commitments is not sufficient. In order for evidence to be accepted, it should cover at least two of the three pillars of sustainability (i.e., environmental, social, and/or governance). If it meets all other requirements but only one pillar is referenced, the evidence will be ‘partially accepted’.
Reporting level requirements: The evidence must clearly reference the sustainability actions/performance of the reporting entity.
Fund- or group-level reports that do not reference the entity by name will not be accepted as evidence.
Group-, investment manager- or business unit- level disclosure can only be accepted if sustainability actions and/or performance directly reference the entity by name (i.e., they are not only relevant to the entity via connection to the fund/investment manager/group).
Alignment requirements: The evidence provided must support the alignment chosen (if applicable). If listing an alignment that is not predefined, the alignment must be specific and entered in full (i.e., avoid using acronyms).
Third-party review requirements
The evidence provided must support the selected level of third-party review (if applicable).
The assurance and/or verification statement and selected scheme (if applicable) must be included within the evidence uploaded for the chosen disclosure method. Supplementary evidence, such as a letter, can be provided if the disclosure itself does not include confirmation of review.
The evidence relating to the check, verification, and/or assurance must be in reference to the uploaded disclosure method provided (e.g., Annual Report). If submitting an assurance and/or verification letter externally to the report, it must be made clear that the letter applies to the respective evidence.
The assurance and/or verification of sustainability disclosure is separate from the assurance and/or verification of performance data reported in the Performance Component. The scope of assurance/verification of the selected option should cover all sustainability-related information contained in the report and not only the environmental data.
However, note that for evidence validation purposes in 2026, GRESB will only seek to confirm that the third-party review covers a single sustainability topic (e.g., all GHG emissions data). Verification/assurance covering only a single data point (e.g., Scope I emissions) will not be accepted. GRESB will consider more stringent validation requirements regarding the scope of verification/assurance in the future.
*The evidence should confirm that the assurer/verifier is an independent third party to the reporting entity.
*Beginning in 2026, GRESB will request additional documentation from a random sample of participants to confirm the third-party independence of their data assurance/verification provider (as defined in the Terminology section above). GRESB may reject an entity's evidence if it cannot confirm third-party independence.
Disclosure of GRESB results alone (i.e., without any additional analysis or sustainability performance disclosure) is not sufficient for any disclosure type.
Scoring
Scoring: How does GRESB score this indicator?
The scoring of this indicator is equal to the sum of the fractions assigned to the selected options and respective sub-options, multiplied by the total score of the indicator.
Evidence: The evidence is manually validated and assigned a multiplier, according to the table below. The evidence must support the validation requirements.
If any requirements are not met, the evidence may be partially accepted or not accepted, depending on the level of alignment with the requirements.
Accepted
2/2
Partially Accepted
1/2
Not Accepted
0
Frequently Asked Questions
Will Annex 4 or 5 of SFDR Periodic disclosure be accepted as evidence for "Entity reporting to investors" in the ‘ reporting’ indicator?
Yes, Annex 4 and 5 of SFDR disclosures contribute to the disclosure of actions and/or performance and, therefore, can be acceptable evidence for the selection ‘Entity reporting to investors’ for indicator RP1.
References
IIRC - Integrated Reporting FrameworkIFRS - International Reporting Standards FoundationUNPRI - PRI Reporting Framework
Alignment with External Frameworks
GRI Standards 2021 - 2: General Disclosures 2021
Good practice examples: Please refer to the links below:
Integrated ReportSection of Annual Report (See pages from 42 to 53Dedicated section on the websiteEntity reporting to investorsOther
Get Support: Solution Providers
GRESB Solution Providers are independent, third-party organizations within the GRESB Partner network that offer specialized products, tools, and services to support sustainability performance outside the GRESB Assessment process.
The organizations below deliver commercially available solutions designed to help drive improvement for this indicator. Engagement is managed directly between the reporting entity and the Solution Provider.
GRESB will continue to update this section as the GRESB Solution Provider network grows. Please check back regularly to find GRESB Solution Providers who can support your sustainability performance.
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