International Cooperation on Sustainability Reporting

An international collaborative group known as the Corporate Reporting Dialogue (CRD), has been launched in Europe to bring together organisations that have significant international influence on the corporate reporting landscape.

Introduced by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), participants aim to respond to market calls for better alignment and reduced burden in corporate reporting.

The CRD was officially launched at the International Corporate Governance Network Annual Conference in Amsterdam.

Erik Breen, Incoming Chairman of the ICGN described the CRD as a welcome platform to coordinate and align the developments in corporate reporting.

“Under the umbrella of the IIRC, we are comfortable that the CRD will progress while keeping institutional investors in mind as the main user group of corporate reporting.”

The Council said organisations participating in the CRD are all involved with the issuing of international standards and frameworks. They share a common interest in Integrated Reporting and in improving the quality and consistency of global corporate reporting to provide increased certainty for businesses and investors alike.

Chair of Transparency International and an IIRC Council member, Huguette Labelle has accepted the role of chair of the CRD.

“The CRD aims to promote greater coherence, consistency and comparability between corporate reporting frameworks, standards and related requirements, leading to improved efficiency and effectiveness,” Labelle said.

“The corporate reporting landscape is changing. For too long, reporting has been fragmented and disconnected from the strategic drivers of value. In an interconnected world, isolated change is insufficient to reflect the complexities of modern business and investment practice.

“The CRD is a collaboration that will promote greater cohesion and efficiency, rebalancing reporting in favour of the reader, helping to re-establish the connection between a business and its principal stakeholders. It is a privilege to be chairing this initiative.

“Participants will share information, express a common voice on areas of mutual interest, and as the initiative progresses, will reach out to the broader corporate reporting landscape. The initial deliverable will be to develop a ‘Corporate Reporting Landscape’ highlighting the connectivity of the various reporting frameworks and standards and their relevance to Integrated Reporting.”

Paul Druckman, IIRC CEO  said the purpose of the CRD is to strengthen cooperation, coordination and alignment between key organisations with Integrated Reporting as the umbrella.

“The need for this is continuously articulated in my discussions with companies, investors, regulators and other stakeholders across the world.

“At the creation of the IIRC we set out to be a catalyst for an evolution in corporate reporting – the formation of the CRD is at the heart of this, and is a significant step towards achieving our goal.”

The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) is a global coalition of regulators, investors, companies, standard setters, the accounting profession and NGOs.