Participants of the Corporate Reporting Dialogue – an initiative bringing together the major standard setters and framework providers globally – are launching a six-week global consultation process on Wednesday 20 March 2019, to gather views from stakeholders on how to drive better alignment of sustainability reporting frameworks, as well as with frameworks that promote integration between non-financial and financial reporting.

Through an online survey and a series of global roundtables, stakeholders will be consulted on how to support effective disclosures, addressing the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, and identifying how non-financial metrics relate to financial outcomes and how this can be integrated in mainstream reports.

CDP, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) will launch the Better Alignment Project consultation with two interactive webinars on 20 March 2019, featuring guest speakers from HSBC, AkzoNobel and Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).

The launch webinars will outline the consultation process and include insights from report preparers and users on how to navigate the corporate reporting system. Participants will be invited to share their views on how to drive effective corporate reporting, ensuring that the work of the Corporate Reporting Dialogue remains grounded in the needs of the market.

The Better Alignment Project’s global stakeholder consultation period will take place from March until May 2019. The consultation process will include an online survey, available on www.corporatereportingdialogue.com, from 20 March until 1 May 2019 and regional stakeholder engagement roundtables held in locations around the world up until the end of May 2019.

Information gathered from the consultation period will inform an initial report due for publication in September 2019, showing the linkages of the TCFD recommendations with the respective frameworks and the linkages between the frameworks. It will also inform potential areas for Corporate Reporting Dialogue participants to focus on going forwards as we drive better alignment.

An introduction to the consultation process will be presented at two webinars on 20 March. Consultation participants must register for the webinars in advance to gain access: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/corporate-reporting-dialogue-19405976553

A list of regional roundtables will be made available on the Corporate Reporting Dialogue website

The Corporate Reporting Dialogue is an initiative, convened in June 2014 by the International Integrated Reporting Council, designed to respond to market calls for greater coherence, consistency and comparability between corporate reporting frameworks, standards and related requirements.

The Better Alignment Project is a ground-breaking two-year project to drive better alignment of sustainability reporting frameworks, as well as with frameworks that promote further integration between non-financial and financial reporting.  The aim is to make it easier for companies to prepare effective and coherent disclosures that meet the information needs of capital markets and other stakeholders in society.