AI Tools for Analyzing Sustainability Reports: A Study on GRI and Environmental Performance

Abstract

Sustainability reporting has become an important way for organizations to show their commitment to being environmentally responsible and achieving long-term business success. Among the various reporting frameworks, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) offers a common format for sharing information on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. However, examining GRI-based sustainability reports manually across different sectors is often time-consuming, inconsistent, and makes comparison difficult. Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) provide a strong opportunity to tackle these issues by allowing large-scale, systematic, and objective examination of sustainability disclosures. Sustainability reporting has become an important way for organizations to show their commitment to being environmentally responsible and achieving long-term business success. Among the various reporting frameworks, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) offers a common format for sharing information on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. However, examining GRI-based sustainability reports manually across different sectors is often time-consuming, inconsistent, and makes comparison difficult. Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) provide a strong opportunity to tackle these issues by allowing large-scale, systematic, and objective examination of sustainability disclosures.  This study looks into how AI tools can be used to analyze GRI-based sustainability reports and assess environmental performance across sectors in Tamil Nadu. Using secondary data from corporate sustainability reports, regulatory filings, and ESG databases, the study employs AI-driven text analytics, keyword frequency analysis, and pattern recognition methods to evaluate the quality of disclosures and environmental performance indicators. The results show significant differences in reporting depth and focus among sectors. They also indicate that AI tools improve comparability, reveal gaps in disclosures, and aid in better decision-making. The study concludes that using AI to analyze GRI reports is an effective way to enhance sustainability reporting practices and encourage transparent, sustainable business success.