Enhancing due diligence multi-level reporting

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Overview
Learnings
Impact
Project outputs

Introduction

Project details

Project lead: Global Infrastructure Basel (GIB) Foundation

Project partners: Assurance Services International (ASI), Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), GEO Foundation

Duration: January 2024 to February 2026

Geographical focus: Global

Contact: Nathalie Gaullier - nathalie.gaullier@gib-foundation.org;
Tool enquiries - info@gib-foundation

Overview

New regulations for financial disclosure aim to drive transparency and combat greenwashing in sustainable investment. However, these regulations risk hindering sustainable development and skewing investment in favour of larger corporations if small and medium businesses lack the data to meet them.

Recognising these challenges, GIB aimed to support sustainability systems to align with due diligence regulations, with a focus on financial disclosure. This enables certified businesses to comply more easily through streamlined data generation and reporting, while helping financiers to invest more confidently, and enhances the value of sustainability systems. Read about the project on GIB's website.

The project successfully developed an AI-powered web-based tool to facilitate this alignment. Testing and feedback from partners helped to optimise its effectiveness and make it user-friendly. Explore the tool overview and user guidance.

Learnings

Key lessons from the development and testing process include:

Iterative development: Testing different approaches and incorporating partner feedback was important for improving the tool's functionality and usability.
AI-enabled efficiency: Switching to using AI for mapping standards with regulations allowed significant efficiencies. Large Language Models combined with retrieval-based systems like Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) gave the best results.
User-friendly design: The online interface was highly customisable compared to the Excel tool initially planned, helping make the tool user-friendly for non-technical users.
Keeping pace with change: Both regulations and AI are evolving rapidly, meaning the tool requires regular updates to maintain its accuracy and effectiveness.
Adaptability: The approach can potentially be applied across different sustainability systems and regulations, although further development is needed to support wider use.

Impact

The project demonstrated the potential for AI to enable efficient alignment between diverse sustainability systems and regulations. By identifying gaps, the tool can help sustainability systems adapt and stay relevant, improving their value proposition to companies.

As well as continuing to use the tool internally – to refine their standards, support stakeholder engagement, demonstrate market value – GIB are encouraging uptake by other sustainability systems and exploring routes to scaling as part of their wider strategy.

They also see potential for its application beyond regulatory alignment, including mapping supplier contracts against requirements. GIB is exploring additional funding to expand and further develop this tool, alongside other tools that could provide insights into the financial benefits of improving sustainability and resilience.

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Content

Webinar: Introduction to the AI-enabled Sustainability Framework Benchmarking Tool

12 February 2026 | 14:00 CET

Project outputs

User Guide: AI-Driven Sustainability Framework Benchmarking Tool

This user guide provides an overview of the Sustainability Framework Benchmarking Tool, an AI-powered web application developed by the Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation (GIB).

The tool was developed through a project delivered between January 2024 to February 2026 supported by the ISEAL Innovations Fund, in partnership with the GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf, the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, and Assurance Services International.

User Guide: AI-Driven Sustainability Framework Benchmarking Tool

This user guide provides an overview of the Sustainability Framework Benchmarking Tool, an AI-powered web application developed by the Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation (GIB). The tool was

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The ISEAL Innovations Fund is supported by Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and UK International Development from the UK Government.