As shareholder primacy gets dethroned, will executives lose focus?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we lived in a world where everything is not presented in simplistic polar oppositions? For example assuming that not prioritising shareholders implies prioritising the whole world, that all shareholders are the same and opposed to the sustainability world, that assessing financial impacts implies excluding sustainability impacts, and that the enterprise […]
Corporate Governance in Integrated Reporting: Do we have a power failure?
Corporate governance was again frontpage news in November 2018 as Carlos Ghosn, head of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Motors auto alliance was arrested by Japanese authorities on suspicion of underreporting his income by half over the last five years. It highlights ongoing corporate governance challenges among corporations in Japan, including lack of independent oversight for executive pay. […]
Climate-related financial disclosures: Task Force seeks to nudge-rock the system
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we lived in a world where everything is not presented in simplistic polar oppositions? For example assuming that not prioritising shareholders implies prioritising the whole world, that all shareholders are the same and opposed to the sustainability world, that assessing financial impacts implies excluding sustainability impacts, and that the enterprise […]
IIRC London conference makes the case for change in values and culture
Values, culture and the meaning of numbers and time were key themes of discussion at the annual conference of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) held in London on 6-7 December. The event was co-hosted with the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN), helping the IIRC to boost its outreach to the investment community. “We don’t […]
Materiality: Talking heads, talking numbers and talking finance…
Materiality had some sober moments at the GRI Global Conference in Amsterdam this May. It was evident that established reporters are asking more pertinent questions about the value of the materiality determination process. Some are starting to do it less frequently (for example every three years, not annually). This raises three important questions: The frequency […]
Big Data and Materiality: Lost in translation?
Data was the centre of excitement at the GRI Global Conference held in Amsterdam this past May of 2016. Having been part of the GRI process since its foundational days, it has been fascinating to see the movement evolve from the early mission “for sustainability reporting to become as routine as annual financial reporting” to […]
Where, when and how do you engage in the climate negotiations?
As business representative you may have decided to attend the climate convention conference in Paris from 30 November to 11 December 2015. In formal UN-speak it is the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It includes a Meeting of the Parties (MOP) which is the term […]
Integrated Reporting: I think integrated, therefore I am…
“Integration” again found itself in the domain of popular terminology in recent years as managers, policy makers and others contemplated ways of dealing with mainstreaming, fragmented information and inconsistencies as demonstrated in the market failures of financial crisis. Integration is a beautiful word, bringing to mind images of integral whole, unified pattern and harmony. Who […]
Welcome to Materialnet, hyper relevant…
Internet Disclosure: Part IIThe benefits of online reporting reporting has not escaped top Chinese companies listed on the stock exchanges of Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. In a country with millions of Internet users, research has shown how listed companies progressively used the Internet since the early 2000s to report on safety, health and environment […]
Good bye sustainability reports, hello sustainability reporting…
Internet Disclosure: Part ITaking sustainability reporting to the next level in coming years will have to be about “Materialnet”. This was evident during an international reporting workshop and my meeting with managers from reporting companies in Europe this April. It brought to mind an old debate, Internet-based reporting, albeit with the realisation of how far […]