The Impact of Applying the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards on the Value of Economic Units Listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards represent one of the most important frameworks for sustainability reporting, ensuring that economic units measure and report their economic, environmental, and social performance. Applying these standards, especially in emerging markets such as Iraq, could significantly affect the value of economic units listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX). This research aims to know how much the economic units in the research sample apply and disclose the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. The results of the analytical research of the annual financial reports showed a variation in the relative commitment between units to the axis of general or comprehensive standards related to fundamental indicators, general disclosures, and management approaches. The same applies to the commitment of economic units to the economic, environmental, and social axes. Furthermore, this paper has shown a potential for sustainability reporting to represent an advantage for companies' economic units in a competitive market, thus contributing to attracting a wide range of investors and customers.