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“Breakthrough moment for integrated reporting” - International Integrated Reporting Council publishes own annual integrated report.

Posted 13 September, 2018

A series of ‘breakthrough’ moments have been named by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) in its 2017 integrated report published today (Thursday 13 September 2018), signalling the breadth of support for integrated reporting as it becomes embedded by businesses around the world.

Integrated reporting has been established since 2010 as a broad-based framework for business and investment decisions which are long-term, inclusive and with purpose. The IIRC brings together more than seventy international organisations, with the common mission to make integrated reporting the global norm for companies.

The IIRC is currently in the ‘breakthrough phase’ towards the global adoption of integrated reporting, and the identification of the breakthrough moments in today’s report signals that the organisation is preparing to move towards a new strategic phase in its development.

Breakthrough moments identified in the report include:

  • Sixteen regulators around the world have recommended or moved to align with integrated reporting, with many corporate governance codes encouraging voluntary adoption, including in South Africa, Japan and Malaysia.
  • Market feedback through a global feedback exercise demonstrating business moving from awareness of integrated reporting to its implementation
  • Investors from across the world signing a statement committing to investment decisions in line the IIRC’s objective of long-term value creation
  • The production of a new blueprint showing how businesses can address the UN Sustainable Development Goals through integrated reporting
  • The creation of a practitioner network for integrated reporting in the United States for the first time – the US <IR> Community
  • A statement from the International Accounting Standards Board Chair that the International Integrated Reporting Framework is compatible with the IASB’s own conceptual framework
  • Convening the Corporate Reporting Dialogue, including bringing the major financial and non-financial frameworks to a common position in support of the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure
  • A categorical position statement from the International Federation of Accountants that integrated reporting is the future for corporate reporting.

With voluntary adoption spreading to 64 countries globally, KPMG reported a 27% increase in integrated reports globally since 2015.

The IIRC will be responding to questions on the progress and development of integrated reporting in the light of the new report, during a one hour Twitter Q&A session 13:30-14:30 British Summer Time on Thursday 6 September 2018.

Individuals are encouraged to pose their questions to the IIRC’s CEO, Richard Howitt, using the hashtag #asktheIIRC

Commenting, Richard Howitt said,

“The naming of a series of breakthrough moments rather than one single event, is in tune with the complex, inter-connected business environment which is itself the compelling reason behind the extraordinary progress of integrated thinking and reporting.

“As this 2017 Integrated Report demonstrates, this year is the year when we can see integrated reporting breaking through to become a staple of the reporting landscape worldwide.

“Changing the entire corporate reporting system across the world is transformational change involving many people over several years. But the evidence of today is that the International Integrated Reporting Council is preparing business for the needs of tomorrow.” 

The next full meeting of the IIRC’s Council takes place on 4 October in Paris, when plans for a new global strategic phase in the pathway to global adoption of integrated reporting in are due to be unveiled.

The IIRC has partnered with corporate reporting agency, Smart Media, headquartered in Sri Lanka, to develop the 2017 integrated report, including, for the first time, an interactive online HTML version of the annual report and an executive summary for mobile devices.

Dr. Vijith Kannangara, Chairman of Smart Media The Annual Report Company said, “Report preparers often seek help with communicating their story while meeting the need to be concise and complete. The answer to resolving this apparent paradox is to provide stakeholders with a choice of channels in a manner that best suits them through a combination of on-line HTML, print, mobile or video. The IIRC’s Integrated Report 2017 does just that.”

Notes to editors:

  • The IIRC’s CEO Richard Howitt will be online via Twitter on Thursday 13 September 2018 to answer questions on the report, the work of the IIRC and development of integrated reporting. Local times:  05:30-06:30 PDT (San Francisco/Vancouver); 07:30-08:30 CDT (Mexico City); 08:30-09:30 EDT (Ottawa/New York); 09:30-10:30 BRT (Brasilia); 09:30-10:30 CLST (Santiago); 13:30-14:30 BST (London); 13:30-14:30 WAT (Abuja); 14:30-15:30 CEST (Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Warsaw); 14:30-15:30 SAST (Cape Town) 14:30-15:30 CAT (Gaborone); 15:30-16:30 MSK (Moscow); 16:30-17:30 GST (Abu Dhabi); 17:30-18:30 PKT (Islamabad); 18:00-19:00 IST (Delhi/Mumbai); 19:30-20:30 WIB (Jakarta); 20:30-21:30 MYT (Kuala Lumpur); 20:30-21:30 SGT (Singapore); 20:30-21:30 CST (Beijing); 20:30-21:30 HKT (Hong Kong); 21:30-22:30 KST (Seoul); 21:30-22:30 JST (Tokyo); 22:30-23:30 AEST (Canberra); 00:30-01:30 NZST (Wellington) (Please note New Zealand time is on Friday 14 September).
  • The IIRC’s 2017 integrated report, as well as further information about integrated reporting, is available at integratedreporting.ifrs.org
  • Smart Media: The Annual Report Company worked with the IIRC to develop this report – further information can be found at www.smartannualreport.com
  • The International Integrated Reporting Council is a global coalition of regulators, investors, companies, standard setters, the accounting profession and NGOs that has come together to advance integrated reporting in the belief it can support financial stability and sustainable development globally.
  • Companies that adopt integrated reporting are communicating a holistic story of how the resources and relationships they use create value over the short, medium and long term.
  • Media enquiries contact the IIRC’s Head of Communications Juliet Markham at [email protected]or call on +44 207 504 2575