A discussion paper has been released by the International Integrated Reporting Committee that calls for the development of a new framework for integrated reporting to be adopted by corporate organisations worldwide.

Integrated reporting is designed to bring together the different strands of corporate reporting – financial, management commentary, governance and remuneration, and sustainability – into a coherent whole, and is seen by many as a crucial step towards making businesses accountable and transparent to their investors and other stakeholders.

Towards Integrated Reporting – Communicating Value in the 21st Century calls for responses from those with a stake in better reporting – such as corporate reporting specialist Black Sun, which has welcomed the new discussion.

Black Sun believes that the combination of financial and non-financial – such as sustainability reporting – disclosure that integrated reporting would bring is important for companies looking to build long-term stakeholder value. Recent research by Black Sun has indicated that corporates in G20 nations are beginning to build sustainability thinking into their reporting, but that on average less than half of the companies are meeting current integrated reporting best practice standards.

The IIRC is asking for feedback to the Discussion Paper online by 14 December 2011.