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What is a "material topic", and how do I decide mine?
A material topic is a subject where your business has a significant impact on people or the environment — significant enough that leaving it out would mislead a reader. Under GRI 3 you determine your own material topics through a documented process, and that process, not just the conclusion, is part of what you report.
It is not a list you are handed. A coffee shop, a logistics firm and a software company genuinely do have different material topics, and a report that treats all three the same is a bad report.
A workable process for a small business:
- List what your business actually does, step by step, including who you buy from.
- For each step, ask what it does to people and to the environment.
- Rank those impacts by how severe and how likely they are.
- Write down who you asked and how you decided — this is GRI 3-1, and it is required.
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Last reviewed 2026-09-04