3.4.3.1 Integrated reporting

The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), a global coalition of regulators, investors, companies, standard setters, accounting professionals and civil society organizations, has developed an international integrated reporting framework, also available to US companies.1 The IIRC has developed principles built on the existing financial reporting framework to guide companies to integrate Environmental, Social and Governance risks into their annual reports and to demonstrate how its strategy to creates value over time, with the particular focus on the interests of investors.2 Globally, integrated reporting is in the early stages and generally the global uptake has been slow, with the exception of South Africa, where is already mandatory. Although since the seventies the US has required in the SEC filings different environmental disclosures and since 2010 addressed climate change related risks, board diversity, mine safety, conflict minerals and payments to governments by resource extraction firms, US companies have been slow in the uptake of the IIRC’s plea.34In 2011, in the US only 6% of Global Reporting Initiative-checked or self-declared sustainability reports were declared by the reporters as “integrated reports”, in comparison to 20% globally.5 In 2013 only 1.4% of the S&P 500 companies have declared to have a fully integrated financial and sustainability report. Among the S&P companies with an integrated report was American Electric Power, Dow Chemical and Pfizer.6 A possible reason for the slow uptake of the IIRC in the US is the highly litigious corporate disclosure environment and reputation risk, which triggers concerns about director liability.78