Sustainability reporting among mining corporations: a constructive critique of the GRI approach

The environmental crisis is giving rise to growing public demand for socially responsible and ecologically viable mining practices. Large mining corporations are responding by advancing the idea of a sustainable mining industry. These responses are accompanied by concerted efforts to advertise a companys relative progress in this direction through the publication of sustainability reports based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Framework. Many scholars contest the effectiveness of that framework, arguing that GRI-based reports can mislead decision-makers who are concerned with sustainability, or even camouflage unsustainable practices, particularly at the site level. Few scholars, however, have scratched below the surface of criticism in order to consider how to improve the effectiveness of that framework