IIRC response to European Commission announcement on European non-financial reporting standards

Source: , 30 January 2020

The IIRC welcomes the announcement by the European Commission Executive Vice-President Dombrovoskis on the development of a European non-financial reporting standards.

Charles Tilley, CEO, IIRC, said: “The urgency of companies reporting better, more timely, information has rightly come to the fore, particularly given the growing awareness of the environmental risks that face us all. The IIRC supports all initiatives that contribute to a better understanding of the risks and opportunities companies face.

“That said, in a world that is interconnected at every level, we cannot ignore the trade-offs companies make every day between their financial, manufactured, natural, social and relationship, intellectual and human capital. To treat these capitals in silos is to fundamentally misunderstand how business is done in the 21st century.

“The long term ability of a business to create value and to manage its impact across the capitals is the IIRC’s central focus and we will work with our friends at the European Commission to ensure the vital linkages between financial and sustainability reporting are reflected. It is critical that the ultimate goal of companies reporting on their long term sustainable value creation and impact is not forgotten during this process.

“It is important that anything the European Commission creates is based upon the work of the standard setters and framework developers already prevalent in the market and it is right that Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis has committed to this. As the IIRC revises the International <IR> Framework this year, we will similarly ensure that our work is aligned with initiatives such as these wherever possible.

“The environment does not acknowledge borders. Any European solution will ultimately need to be a global solution and whilst we congratulate the European Commission on their leadership on this urgent matter, we encourage them to create something that can be applicable globally.”