The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) has released its Integrated Reporting (IR) Framework, intended to accelerate the adoption of integrated reporting worldwide.
The IR framework combines sustainability and financial data to provide a holistic view of the company and its ability to sustain value over the short, medium and long term. It focuses on bringing greater efficiency to the reporting process and adopting “integrated thinking” as a way of reducing duplication, IIRC says. IIRC released a draft framework in April.
IR is currently being trialed in more than 25 countries, 16 of which are members of the G20. Last month PepsiCo became the latest global company to sign up to the IIRC’s 100-plus member business network, which includes HSBC, Unilever, Deutsche Bank, China Light and Power, Hyundai Engineering and Construction, National Australia Bank and Tata Steel.
To further advance IR, businesses should close perceived or actual information gaps by disclosing their materiality assessment process, say investors. The IIRC asked its pilot program investor network to critique reports from its pilot business network. Fourteen financial capital organizations analyzed reports from 21 pilot businesses and made recommendations for report preparers, published in October.