Tracking the journey towards international integrated reporting The reports examined in this survey show many approaches, some of them common and some of them distinct to particular countries. The way in which an Annual Report is written and designed tend to reflect the culture of the country as well as the attitudes of the company that produces it. This broad review of the reporting practices of the most influential international countries was intended to highlight the most interesting aspects of integrated reporting so that businesses in other countries can learn from each other. The study shows companies recognising the need to express their value beyond the financial, but falling short of demonstrating how they link non-financial issues to business strategy and evidence claims with fact for the short, medium and longterm sustainability of the company. We found that, overall, reports in the G20 region are meeting less than 50% of what we have defined as integrated reporting good practice. It appears that the influence of regulation and legislation are in some cases a strong force for integration, as we’ve seen with South African corporates, where the government has championed integrated reporting. The South African companies were the most successful at integrating and demonstrating the strategic importance to the business of nonfinancial impacts, actions and goals, meeting on average 73% of our criteria. European G20 countries (predominately UK, France, Germany and Switzerland) and arguably the market which has the next most prescriptive reporting regulations around non-financials demonstrated the next highest average level of integration (54%), with companies in Brazil (48%) and Republic of Korea (41%) the next best at integrated reporting. Corporates in the US, where reporting is tightly regulated and legally prescriptive, are only fulfilling 19% of our integrated reporting criteria. But influential as these factors are, the extent to which companies have achieved ‘integrated reporting’ should not be overstated. The momentum for change is underway as companies are increasingly seeing their role in society as contributing to sustainable development, however this is a journey of change in established thinking within organisations which will evolve over the coming years as companies better understand and make decisions on the interrelationship of different factors which contribute to their success over time. For now, the story of an ‘integrated report’ should tell what is important to the company from a strategic standpoint and explain where and how a company is going in the short, medium and long-term. How the company has understood and based decisions on the interrelationship between different factors that contribute to a company success over time will reflect the integrated thinking within an organisation. How reporting will evolve in this area is difficult to predict, however progressive standardisation is not what we would recommend. Uniformity is not the answer, companies should be allowed the opportunity to express their own views and opinions. New approaches should be acknowledged and innovations commended, learnings shared and differences encouraged. We think we are off to a good start and let’s hope that those charged with producing the reports of international companies rise to the challenge of the future. United States Page 15 …the compliance driven reporting culture makes it difficult for companies to present a holistic view of their business 6 Towards Global Sustainability A country by country review of the international integrated reporting landscape