We at Ethical Markets fully support the Integrated Reporting approach and applaud this collaboration with GRI. ~ Hazel Henderson, Editor
gri press release
For immediate release: 9 December 2013
Sustainability data is foundation stone of Integrated Reporting, says GRI as <IR> Framework is unveiled
The global reporting initiative today welcomed the publication of the International Integrated Reporting Council’s Framework as a major opportunity to embed material sustainability disclosures into corporate reporting.
GRI particularly sees value in Integrated Reporting as a platform to integrate sustainability with other aspects of business performance that shape the drivers and risks of a company’s value in the short and long term. By promoting the integration of financial and non-financial disclosure, the Framework will serve as a driver of integrated thinking, requiring companies to demonstrate that they have an integrated strategy to create lasting value for the business, its stakeholders, and society.
GRI Chairman Christianna Wood said: “GRI is a strong supporter of the concept of Integrated Reporting. High-quality, consistent and comparable sustainability information will be a fundamental pillar of this exciting development.
“Investors and market analysts show a growing interest in gaining a more complete and integrated picture when assessing the value and prospects of a company. By integrating material sustainability disclosures into corporate reporting, an organization can provide a more complete view of the sources of long term value creation and how the organization’s human, natural, and social capital relates to its strategy, performance and prospects.”
GRI’s Sustainability Reporting Guidelines are the global standard for sustainability reporting. Nearly 80 percent of the largest 100 companies in 41 countries worldwide issuing corporate responsibility (CR) reports now use the GRI Guidelines, according to a new global survey by KPMG¹. The survey also found that 93 percent of the world’s largest 250 companies carry out non-financial reporting, of which 82 percent refer to the GRI Guidelines.
G4, the latest generation of the Guidelines, is designed to be compatible with a range of different reporting formats, according to the reporting needs of businesses and their stakeholders. In addition to standalone sustainability reports, G4 Indicators are designed to offer a globally recognized standard for sustainability information to be included in integrated reports.
In 2014, GRI will produce an additional resource document to describe in a practical way how the Framework and the G4 Guidelines can be used in combination by companies preparing an integrated report.
In 2012, almost one in five GRI-based reports registered in GRI’s Sustainability Disclosure Database were self-declared by reporting organizations to be ‘integrated reports’. Recent research by GRI found that many of these pioneers of Integrated Reporting were building on sustainability reporting foundations in preparing their integrated report, using the GRI Guidelines as a ‘compass’ to help them explain performance on key issues and articulate their significance for the company’s value creation.
Ms. Wood added: “The advent of Integrated Reporting is an exciting innovation that builds on the foundations of financial and non-financial reporting. As we have learned from those companies in the world who are early adopters of Integrated Reporting, this innovation can only be performed by first carrying out the important work of robust sustainability reporting. The many thousands of GRI reporters who wish to do so can now integrate their sustainability information into IR.”
GRI Chief Executive Ernst Ligteringen said: “Today sustainability reporting is becoming as mainstream as financial reporting among large companies. By drawing on the guidance in the Framework, and on the GRI Guidelines, companies have the opportunity to bring these two streams together in a single report, describing the fundamental link between their financial and non-financial performance, and how they flow from and to core business strategy.”
In February 2013, GRI and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to underscore the common interest of both organizations in enhancing the reach, quality and consistency of global corporate reporting in order to deliver value to investors and other stakeholders.
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For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Stephen Rylance, Senior Manager Press & Communications at GRI, on (0)20 531 00 00 or email:[email protected]
Notes to editors:
¹ The kpmg International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2013
About GRI
The global reporting initiative (GRI) promotes the use of sustainability reporting as a way for organizations to become more sustainable and contribute to a sustainable global economy.
GRI’s mission is to make sustainability reporting standard practice. To enable all companies and organizations to report their economic, environmental, social and governance performance, GRI produces free Sustainability Reporting Guidelines.
GRI is an international not-for-profit organization, with a network-based structure. Its activity involves thousands of professionals and organizations from many sectors, constituencies and regions.
www.globalreporting.org
