GRI: From impact to income: How sustainability reporting affects the bottom line

GRI’s December 2025 literature review, From impact to income: How sustainability reporting affects the bottom line, consolidates evidence from 30 peer‑reviewed empirical studies (2010–2025) on whether sustainability reporting is linked to corporate financial performance.

The headline finding is strong: 73% of studies report a positive correlation (22 positive; 3 mixed; 3 inconclusive; 2 negative), with results more consistently favorable when reporting aligns with recognized standards—especially the GRI Standards.

The review identifies three main value-creation pathways: improved access to capital (greater investor confidence and lower information risk), operational efficiency (energy, waste, and supply-chain improvements once impacts are measured), and enhanced risk management (earlier visibility into transition, physical climate, regulatory, and social-license risks).

The strongest benefits tend to appear in higher-risk sectors such as energy, mining, and manufacturing, where externalities and scrutiny are inherently higher.

A key caution: the academic evidence still faces measurement and data limitations—uneven firm-year coverage, inconsistent definitions of reporting quality, and challenges in separating correlation from causation.

For leaders planning 2026 reporting roadmaps, the signal is clear: focus on quality, consistency, and decision-useful metrics, not volume.

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