Reporting and disclosure-focused organizations the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) officially announced their merger, and the launch of the Value Reporting Foundation.
The organizations initially announced their intention to merge in November 2020, aiming to provide investors and companies with a comprehensive corporate reporting framework across the full range of enterprise value drivers and standards to drive global sustainability performance.
The merger comes as investors, regulators and other stakeholders increasingly seek more sustainable business practices from companies across environmentalEnvironmental criteria consider how a company performs as a steward of nature., socialSocial criteria examine how it manages relationships with employees, suppliers, customers, and the communities where it operates. and governanceGovernance deals with a company’s leadership, executive pay, audits, internal controls, and shareholder rights. factors, yet lack consistent and reliable standards to measure this performance. Numerous initiatives by governments, regulators and investors have emerged promoting mandatory sustainability corporate reporting. The International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS) has also initiated plans to establish global standards, with input from the Value Reporting Foundation.
Michael Bloomberg, Chair Emeritus, Value Reporting Foundation said:
“We’re seeing a lot of great progress on sustainability disclosure and integrated reporting, especially when it comes to the risks and opportunities around climate change. This merger is another important step forward towards a stronger, more resilient economy – and a brighter, safer future.”
The IIRC is a global coalition of regulators, investors, companies, standard setters, the accounting profession, academia and NGOs with a mission to establish integrated reporting and thinking within mainstream business practice as the norm in the public and private sectors. The IIRC has developed the Integrated Reporting <IR> Framework, a set of guiding principles and content elements to govern integrated corporate reporting. The IIRC also promotes an “Integrated Thinking” approach by organizations to drive an improved understanding of how value is created, to enhance decision-making and actions by boards and management through thinking holistically about the resources and relationships the organization uses or affects, and the dependencies and trade-offs between them as value is created.
The SASB Foundation is a non-profit organization, established with the mission to establish industry-specific ESGEnvironmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments. disclosure standards for companies. The standards set by SASB are designed to enable investors to assess the materiality of reported sustainability information, and to compare companies on these metrics on a global basis.
By integrating the key resources of Integrated Thinking Principles, Integrated Reporting Framework and SASB Standards, the Value Reporting Foundation aims to bring together a more complete range of factors that drive enterprise value, making it easier for businesses to communicate their long-term strategy and provide a more comprehensive view of business performance to investors and other providers of capital.
Janine Guillot, CEO, Value Reporting Foundation said:
“We have listened to the strong demand from businesses and investors for a simplified corporate reporting landscape. By combining the tools, resources and relationships of SASB and IIRC, the Value Reporting Foundation will continue to advance progress towards a more coherent landscape and continue to support the important efforts of the IFRS Foundation. The end result will be comparable, consistent and reliable information that enables more holistic decision making by businesses and investors.”
Charles Tilley, CEO of the IIRC until the completion of the merger and now Board Director and Senior Advisor to the Value Reporting Foundation said:
“Both the IIRC and SASB are celebrating their 10-year anniversaries. Over those 10 years we both built solid support, changing the way countless businesses and investors think about how value is created, preserved or eroded over time. Together, as the Value Reporting Foundation we can go further and faster, working with our partners towards a globally agreed system that supports much needed sustainable development around the world.”
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