Frameworks and Reports
While there is still a spectrum of framework approaches you can take to your annual report (from the purely functional and compliance driven to the messaging-oriented that delivers some reasoning, purpose and point of view), the base level expectation is rising rapidly every year.
Choose the path that’s right for your organisation and that reflects the stage you are in your own journey. Some of the options here may help you decide whether integrated reporting is the right path for you. And if not, parts of it will likely have a bearing on your preparatory thinking anyway.
One document or a suite?
If you have a lot of arcane data to disclose or there are specialist audiences who seek greater depth of information on your impacts, a separate document may well be the wise choice. Note that even if a separate report is produced, top line outcomes of your non-financial impacts and activities should be canvassed in the annual report itself in order to provide a complete picture.
Note also that a separate sustainability report can still, however, be part of an integrated reporting suite if the <IR> principles are built into the content structure.
