What type of impact must a material topic reflect according to GRI Standards?

A material topic must reflect significant economic, environmental, and social impacts according to GRI Standards. This requirement ensures that the reported information is relevant and important to stakeholders who are interested in understanding the organization’s effects on sustainable development. Material topics are those that could influence the decisions of stakeholders and are therefore crucial for transparent reporting.

By focusing on significant impacts, organizations can prioritize their reporting efforts to address the issues that matter most to their stakeholders and to their own operations. This emphasis on significance helps to ensure that the reports provide valuable insights into the organization’s performance and sustainability practices, facilitating informed decision-making by stakeholders.

In this context, minor impacts would not warrant inclusion in the report since they are unlikely to influence stakeholder decisions or reflect the organization's true sustainability performance. Overall organizational impacts, while important, do not specifically indicate the significance required by the GRI standards. Non-material topics are those that do not significantly affect stakeholders’ decisions and, as such, do not align with the GRI's goal of highlighting substantial impacts.