By: George M. Wilson & Carol A. Stacey

Sustainability disclosures are being mentioned more and more in the news, in company reporting and in regulatory discussions. While it may seem like it is “early days” for this information, it may not be as early as we all think. Here are summaries of a few of the things going on now.

Sustainability information has been touched on by the SEC in their disclosures effectiveness project. In the voluminous 2016 Regulation S-K Concept release the SEC included this language:

We are interested in receiving feedback on the importance of sustainability and public policy matters to informed investment and voting decisions. In particular, we seek feedback on which, if any, sustainability and public policy disclosures are important to an understanding of a registrant’s business and financial condition and whether there are other considerations that make these disclosures important to investment and voting decisions. We also seek feedback on the potential challenges and costs associated with compiling and disclosing this information.

Enough companies are already disclosing sustainability information that the AICPA has published a Guide for Attestation Engagements on Sustainability Information. The AICPA also has a very informative web page about sustainability disclosures in general.

Standard setters in other parts of the world have also begun discussion about sustainability information. Here is an excerpt from a speech Hans Hoogervorst, Chair of the IASB, delivered in April 2017 at the IIRC Council Meeting in New York:

In their latest review of structure and effectiveness, from 2015 to 2016, the Trustees of the IFRS Foundation confirmed the current approach of the International Accounting Standards Board (the Board) to wider corporate reporting. Broadly, this approach is to cooperate with organisations like the Corporate Reporting Dialogue (CRD) and the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC).

The Board was also asked to study further what its future role should be in the wider corporate reporting landscape. The Board is examining this question now. During the Board meeting of March 2017, we devoted public discussion to this issue for the first time.

As we wind down from second-quarter reporting (or whenever your fiscal-year has a less busy period!), this might be an opportune moment to learn a bit about these disclosures. There are several sources of information you can begin with:

The Sustainability Standards Board (SASB) maintains industry specific sustainability accounting standards that help public corporations disclose material, decision-useful information to investors. The members of the SASB are appointed by the SASB Foundation, a structure similar to that of the FASB and the FAF. The SASB Foundation is chaired by Michael Bloomberg and both the Foundation Board and the SASB itself have members with deep capital markets, business and academic experience.

The International Integrated Reporting Council defines integrated reporting as “a process founded on integrated thinking that results in a periodic integrated report by an organization about value creation over time and related communications regarding aspects of value creation. An integrated report is a concise communication about how an organization’s strategy, governance, performance and prospects, in the context of its external environment, lead to the creation of value in the short, medium and long term.”

Both of these organizations are focused on providing information beyond our existing financial reporting and SEC reporting models. And, interestingly, many companies are already responding to demand for such information. In a report from the SASB titled “The State of Disclosure – An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Sustainability Disclosures in SEC Filing – 2016,” the SASB reviewed the reports of up to the top 10 companies in 79 industries. Among their findings were:

Overwhelmingly, companies have recognized the existence of, or the potential for, material impacts related to the sustainability topics included in SASB standards. Indeed, 69 percent of companies in the analysis reported on at least three-quarters of the sustainability topics included in their industry standard, and 38 percent provided disclosure on every SASB topic.

With this background, our next few posts will help you build an understanding of the state of these disclosures in current reporting, the nature of investor demand for these disclosures, and the standards that the SASB is developing to help investors get the information that they believe they need.

As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome!