Integrated thinking in reporting Introduction The debate around integrated reporting is gaining urgency and momentum. With increasing demands for transparency and accountability in Annual Reports, issues traditionally referred to as ‘non-financial’ are now seen as integral to overall business responsibility and performance. Integrated reporting is now firmly on the international corporate reporting agenda. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, global economic leaders discussed the benefits of integration in corporate reports. In addition, the Prince of Wales’ ‘Accounting for Sustainability Project’ and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) announced the formation of the International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC), whose remit is, “to create a globally accepted framework for accounting for sustainability”. Throughout the year there were also growing signs that stakeholders are no longer content for sustainable development reports to simply be ‘bolted on’ to Annual Reports. Instead, they want to see clear and compelling evidence that non-financial issues are central to overall business strategy and activities. In short, they want to see reporting that reflects an integration of business and sustainability in a company’s everyday operations. At Black Sun, we believe that by taking a more active approach to these issues, companies can achieve numerous business benefits. These include improved management of reputational risk, opportunities to re-evaluate and cut costs, plus improved stakeholder engagement and relationships. We also think that opportunities seized through engaging directly with sustainability, can lead to creating competitive advantage. 2 Integrated thinking in reporting
