The Integrated Reporting Movement: Meaning, Momentum, Motives, and Materiality

Preface

Many exciting developments have taken place since we published the first book on integrated reporting (One Report: Integrated Reporting for a Sustainable Strategy) four years ago. The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) was formed in 2010 and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) in 2011. Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) released its G4 Guidelines in 2013, the same year the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) updated its Reporting Framework and announced plans to expand the scope of its Framework to include other natural resources and the IIRC published “The International <IR> Framework” (<IR> Framework). Other important events include the launch of the UN-sponsored Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSE) in 2009 and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Coalition (CSRC), sponsored by Aviva Investors, in 2011.

For these and many other reasons, we decided that now was the time to take stock of the integrated reporting movement. We very consciously use the term “movement” to describe what is happening with integrated reporting today. Its members include companies, investors, supporting organizations and initiatives, and firms that supply products and services to help companies produce an integrated report. With the exception of South Africa, no country has made any kind of regulatory intervention in support of integrated reporting. The bulk of adoption today is being accomplished through a social movement. The people and organizations ...