Integrated reporting is an idea whose time has come
I have no idea how many times Bob Eccles and I have made that assertion since our book, One Report: Integrated Reporting for a Sustainable Strategy was published last March. And yet, I find myself wondering whether the assertion is true. Am I out of touch with reality because I’m too close to the subject to be objective? Am I blinded by my passion for improving reporting?
I wrote this somewhere over the North Atlantic during my flight home after attending the 2010 Global Reporting Initiative Amsterdam Global Conference. I mention this because a GRI conference—an event that at one time I never expected to attend—is the place where my doubts about integrated reporting were resolved. (more…)
Will Integrated Financial And Sustainability Reporting Become A Legal Mandate?
Much of what we think of as corporate sustainability reporting is currently done on a voluntary basis. But most observers believe it is only a matter of time until sustainability disclosure will be a legal requirement just as financial disclosure is today.
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently took an important and celebrated step toward mandating sustainability disclosure with a guidance on climate related risks. The guidance clarified duties of companies to disclose certain kinds of climate data and analysis in SEC filings. The guidance was based on existing legal requirements, such as the duties to report on litigation and liabilities and on emerging trends, events and uncertainties. (more…)
Who will lead the charge?
In his March 6, 2010 post, John Elkington asked whether CFOs are up the challenge of owning integrated reporting. I’m an optimist; my short answer is “yes.” The real issue here is that integrated reporting is a collective action problem, and therefore no single group or person can solve the problem without help.
I can go round and round analyzing why investors, companies, governments, analysts, regulators, standards-setters, civil society, accounting firms, and many others are preoccupied with other matters or don’t have the resources or interest to make integrated reporting happen.
So, who will lead the charge? After all, even collective action requires a leader. CEOs are in the best position to lead. CEOs have the necessary resources at their disposal and they are the source of business information in the first place. Perhaps the most important factor in all of this is that CEOs are the stewards of institutions on which our society depends and this with stewardship responsibility there is a moral obligation to lead the transformation of corporate reporting and communications. (more…)
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