Chapter 9 – Integrated Reporting

This chapter provides an overview of integrated reporting <IR>, which has become a new development in sustainability reporting. IR has quickly become a well-known framework in the world and has begun to change corporate reporting. The big change is to integrate sustainability information with financial information. The chapter describes the development of IR as an organization whose ideas originate from South Africa’s work with corporate governance codes, the so-called King Report, for the last 15 years. Furthermore, the chapter briefly presents how the International Integrated Reporting Council works with various organizations to strengthen sustainability reporting. It explains how integrated reporting framework has been developed and has found acceptance in use among companies worldwide. Concisely, the most important features in terms of content and structure of integrated reporting are described to provide an overview of how the method integrates traditional financial information with sustainability information. Finally, criticism and challenges are discussed with IR.