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The National Gas Company (NGC) has laid claim to being Trinidad and Tobago’s first business to be registered as a member of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Community. GRI is the global standard-bearer for impact reporting and its network comprises over 500 private and public organisations from more than 70 countries globally.
GRI was founded in Boston, USA in 1997 by non-profit organisations Ceres and Tellus Institute (with the involvement of the UN Environment Programme), following public outcry over the environmental damage caused by the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
The final death toll of the Exon Valdez spill included 250,000 seabirds, almost 3,000 sea otters, 300 harbour seals, 250 bald eagles, 22 killer whales and billions of salmon eggs.
The aim of the GRI was to create an accountability mechanism to ensure companies adhere to responsible environmental conduct principles, which was then broadened to include social, economic and governance issues.
The GRI Community provides its members with the tools to improve its quality of sustainability reporting as well as networking opportunities with like-minded corporate citizens, who place a high priority on excellence in sustainability.
NGC president Mark Loquan said, via media release, that NGC’s GRI membership signals its ‘dedication to the Green Agenda and sustainability’ as well as its new identity as ‘a change agent for economic, social, governance and environmental sustainability within the energy sector and, by extension, the wider Trinidad and Tobago’.
“NGC continues to progress and strengthen the rigour of its sustainability reporting and the GRI membership signals our commitment to continually improve corporate transparency and disclosure,” said Loquan. “We plan to leverage the insights and best practice from experts and practitioners within the network to improve on the quality of NGC’s 2021 Sustainability Report which will be released in the second quarter of 2022.
“[…] As an energy company, we recognise that sustainability is critical to the collective success of NGC, the energy sector and the nation. NGC is eager and well-situated to accept a pioneering role by demonstrating corporate accountability and will continue to imbed sustainability practices in its overall corporate strategy.”
NGC also boasts of being the only state-owned company that produces an annual sustainability report. Loquan suggested that its GRI membership further indicates ‘the company’s willingness to measure itself and perform against international standards’.
GRI Community members represent a range of industrial sectors, including agriculture, automotive, chemicals, communications, commercial services, construction, education, energy, finance, food, healthcare, leisure, manufacturing, mining, non-profit, technology, tourism, transport, real estate, retail and waste management.
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