Table 1 Translation of GRI reporting... | Emerald Publishing

Table 1

Translation of GRI reporting principles into RAG-readable evidence criteria and interpretation boundaries

GRI principle	RAG-readable evidence criterion	Examples of evidence sought	Boundary of interpretation
Accuracy	Specificity and internal coherence of disclosed qualitative and quantitative information	Units, dates, measurement descriptions, numerical indicators, consistency between related statements	Does not verify the correctness of underlying measurement systems or internal calculations
Balance	Presence of both favourable information and disclosed challenges, limitations, or adverse developments	References to risks, trade-offs, incidents, missed targets, and critical stakeholder concerns	Does not establish whether all negative impacts were disclosed
Clarity	Accessibility and understandability of the public report text	Definitions, structure, non-technical language, tables, or summaries captured as text	Does not evaluate visual design beyond text extraction
Comparability	Evidence that readers can compare information across periods or against frameworks	Prior-year figures, recurring KPIs, stable metrics, explanations of methodological changes	Does not validate comparability of underlying data collection methods unless disclosed
Completeness	Breadth of public coverage of material topics, boundaries and stakeholder-relevant areas	Materiality descriptions, topic boundaries, environmental, social, and governance coverage	Does not prove that all material impacts were included
Sustainability context	Connection between club disclosures and broader environmental, social, or sector contexts	SDGs, climate targets, league or regional benchmarks, sector-specific challenges	Does not assess substantive contribution to sustainable development
Timeliness	Evidence that information relates to a defined and recent reporting period	Reporting period, publication cycle, recent updates, explanation of delays	Does not evaluate whether internal data collection was timely
Verifiability	Traceability of disclosed information to sources, methods, or external references	GRI index, assurance references, methodologies, page-level evidence, public sources	Does not substitute for external assurance or audit procedures

GRI principle	RAG-readable evidence criterion	Examples of evidence sought	Boundary of interpretation
Accuracy	Specificity and internal coherence of disclosed qualitative and quantitative information	Units, dates, measurement descriptions, numerical indicators, consistency between related statements	Does not verify the correctness of underlying measurement systems or internal calculations
Balance	Presence of both favourable information and disclosed challenges, limitations, or adverse developments	References to risks, trade-offs, incidents, missed targets, and critical stakeholder concerns	Does not establish whether all negative impacts were disclosed
Clarity	Accessibility and understandability of the public report text	Definitions, structure, non-technical language, tables, or summaries captured as text	Does not evaluate visual design beyond text extraction
Comparability	Evidence that readers can compare information across periods or against frameworks	Prior-year figures, recurring KPIs, stable metrics, explanations of methodological changes	Does not validate comparability of underlying data collection methods unless disclosed
Completeness	Breadth of public coverage of material topics, boundaries and stakeholder-relevant areas	Materiality descriptions, topic boundaries, environmental, social, and governance coverage	Does not prove that all material impacts were included
Sustainability context	Connection between club disclosures and broader environmental, social, or sector contexts	SDGs, climate targets, league or regional benchmarks, sector-specific challenges	Does not assess substantive contribution to sustainable development
Timeliness	Evidence that information relates to a defined and recent reporting period	Reporting period, publication cycle, recent updates, explanation of delays	Does not evaluate whether internal data collection was timely
Verifiability	Traceability of disclosed information to sources, methods, or external references	GRI index, assurance references, methodologies, page-level evidence, public sources	Does not substitute for external assurance or audit procedures

Source(s): Edited by the authors based on GRI 1: Foundation 2021 and the implemented RAG protocol